High in the Salmon River Mountains of Idaho, at an elevation of 8,100 feet, the Hoodoo Prospects once yielded thousands of tons of silver-zinc ore. Today, it stands as a quiet relic at the end of a rough road in Custer County.
In this video, we explore the history of the Hoodoo Prospects, which include Upper, Middle, and Lower Hoodoo, within the Boulder Creek District.
Hoodoo Prospects Mine Facts: ~ Location: Custer County, Idaho – Boulder Creek District ~ Elevation: 8,100 ft (2,469 m) ~ Primary Commodities: Silver & Zinc (with cadmium, copper & lead) ~ Workings: Underground, three primary levels ~ Host Rock: Quartz monzonite in the Northern Rocky Mountains ~ Production Years: 1973–1976 (over 78,000 mt of ore mined)
Safety & Access Disclaimer: Abandoned mines are highly hazardous. Do not enter these sites. Land ownership, claim status, and access can change; always verify current conditions and respect private property and any posted closures.
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So after hiking up, parked down there about three quarters of a mile, I saw this.
Kind of kicking myself right now. I brought absolutely no light sources just in case the
mine was open, but leave it to me. You can see the waste rock pile back there. Pretty modern building.
This must have been where they tested samples. This is the old shower room.
Yeah, so this is basically the change-out room. Change-out building. Sample building.
It's not an outhouse. I wonder if it was a generator shack.
No, they usually didn't do lean-tones.
Maybe this was a pump. Is that right there look like they could have ran power?
You got a tube there.
All this stuff would be nasty when wet. They had a ball mill. They had a ball mill up top.
That's what generates this fine dust. You can see how the deer have been using that as a trail.
So I'm wondering if they had a leech pond. Let's head up over there.
All right, with the stack there and the cap, this might have been a powder store. Might have
been a settling pond after it's already been leeched. I don't see a heap leech mound. What
they might have been doing is using something called a kangaroo tank. All right, I know we're
heading that way, but this kind of looks like this is where the mill might have been. Yeah,
I got a bunch of sheet metal over there. Yeah, this is where the mill was. Check down here.
Oh, what a bummer. Looks like it was still standing and burnt down.
Wow. That's probably where... might have a jaw crusher sitting there.
Down below might have been the ball mill. Let's go take a look at that.
There's your kangaroo tank. That's some heavy duty track. So this is where they would have
had power and air and maybe even ventilation for the mine. Big pressure tank. You can tell
they were moving some air. Look at the size of those fittings.
Oh, gushy. I'm on a carpet of moss. Let's see here.
Still want my feet to sink in too far. Unfortunately, I'm wearing my little top
hikers because I wasn't expecting to do a mine explorer, but still might not.
There's the track. No, that's actual stream bed. There's some cut timbers over there.
Yeah, I believe those mines are further back up inside these
hollers. I wasn't expecting them to be open anyways because of the... I'm in Idaho and
got water in my shoe. Idaho is very wet, especially on the mines,
but it's still kind of neat to see. Oh, that is cold water. It's interesting how the track widened.
There might have been a junction, so there might have been a mine up there
and a mine up in there. It's starting to get late. I got to hike back down to my truck.
I'm going to find myself a place to camp and store my food away because I'm in bear territory.
You made it to the end of this interesting little explore. I appreciate it. Does this get you
excited to do some exploring on your own? Do it. Have fun, be safe, and I'll catch you on the next one.
