Death Valley National Park
Keane Wonder Mine
It’s all about the backside
At first glance, Keane Wonder Mine seems like a pretty straightforward stop. But like many of Death Valley’s treasures, what makes it so cool isn’t even visible from the road.
Keane is a small mining site where you can visit the remnants of cooling tanks and ore shoots, discarded machinery scattered across the hillside. Between 2008 and 2017 the site was shut down for structural stabilization and soil sampling but it’s finally back open and ready to be explored.
The real gem is the hard AF uphill grapple but once you get to the top of the hillside behind the mine face, you’ll encounter an old mining camp and the additional tramway spanning deep gorges and canyons, the only ore moving tram of its kind left in existence. For all the details, check out our FULL BLOG POST HERE.
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North of Furnace Creek you’ll encounter Beatty Cutoff. Follow the road east for 5.6 miles until you seen Keane signage. Take a right and follow the dirt road three miles.
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$30 per vehicle for a 7 day pass; $55 for the year or free with an America the Beautiful Annual Pass ($80/yr)
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There is a small circular park at the base of the mountain
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Pros:
This trail is awesome. There’s a ton to see and it’s truly a one of a kind experience.
Cons:
The trail is really hard. It’s not for the faint of heart. Without seeing the trams, this stop is a lot less dynamic.
