11.9 hr
Overview
The Cornucopia area in the Wallowas was the most productive gold mining region in eastern Oregon and at times, hundreds of miners, shopkeepers, bartenders, etc., lived there. What is left is decaying paraphernalia and buildings, with some more recent structures maintained as summer residences. After the discovery of gold in the early 1880s, several mining operations, collectively called the Copia mines, were initiated, the largest of which, supposedly on the "mother lode," was the Union-Companion. The Union-Companion produced about $20 million worth of gold, but operations shut down in 1942 under a federal order halting all non-essential mining in order to focus on the war effort. After World War II ended, it was considered too expensive to restore all the equipment and infrastructure that had been left to the elements over several years. Sporadic small-scale mining continued in the area until the 1970s.
Trail Stats
33.6 km
1314 m
2557 m
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Photos
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