Ivanpah Springs & Coliseum Mine, California GPS: N35o 33' 06" W115o 32' 18" (WGS 84) April 22, 2001 home: page 1 View maps, route map for this trip. In California near Clark Mountain is an old ghost town named Ivanpah. The town of Ivanpah dates back to the 1930s, where silver and gold was found in the foothills below the Clark Mountain. The surrounding area contains many nice trails for 4x4 trucks and ATVs. The elevation of the area is about at +5000 foot level with rolling hills covered by Juniper trees and sage brush. To get to this area from Las Vegas, travel I-15 South about 42 miles past Primm, NV (State Line). A few miles past Primm take the Exit 289 (Yates Well Road) exit. Turn right on Yates Well Road to the intersection. Turn right again and follow the paved road toward the Primm Golf Course. Before reaching the golf course, follow the well bladed dirt road on the left. On the left you pass a well and water tanks up the road. Follow this road about 6 miles and you will see several Cottonwood trees on the left. This area is the old town of Ivanpah. The Coliseum Mine is another couple miles up the main road and over the pass, you can't miss it. At the old town of Ivanpah, there are several old ruins. Unfortunately only foundations are left of most of the ruins, but they are very interesting to see. Most of the ruins are found in a small area with interesting trails that lead to each of them. Further up the main road you will find the Coliseum Mine. The Coliseum Mine is a large open pit gold mine which was closed in the early 1980s. Many tons of gold ore had been mined out and if you look at the surrounding rocks you can still see metal crystals in the rocks. Several of the open pits still remain. Unfortunately the pits contain contaminated water at the bottom of them. A mile or so south of the mine, the BLM has placed a sign commemorating the Coliseum Mine. The Coliseum Mine can be seen in the distance behind the sign. To find the sign, look south of the mine for a couple well traveled trails. The trails lead directly to the sign. Finding the sign is part of the adventure. The best part of this area are the trails. The granite hillsides have created smooth trails of crushed rock with very little dust. Between Clark Mountain and the Coliseum Mine is a wide valley with many trails among rolling hills. Many trails lead up washes and to the hilltops. Others lead to small mines and adits. The area also has many camping spots along the trails. Continuing south from the mine, a trail leads to the foothills of Clark Mountain. Here a few small abandoned mines are found along with several camping sites. The area also overlooks the valley toward Primm and I-15. To the West of the Coliseum Mine, there are several trails that travel up winding washes. Most of these washes contain old mining cabins and small milling sites. Unfortunately, the small number of photos I have of this area do not reveal a fraction of what can be found. You will have to discover them for yourself. N35o 34' 06", W115o 34' 43" (WGS 84) home: page 1 Contact the author at speleo@intermind.net Photographs and information in this website may be copied or distributed for personal use only. For other uses, express permision by the author must be given. Use of appropriate photo credits requested.