Summary: A friend of mine arranged this hike to Black Diamond Mines and several of us parked at the second lot, climbed the Stewartville Trail and headed via Corcoran Mine Trail to the Prospect Tunnel. You can go into the tunnel for 200 feet, and it gets very dark. We returned via the Stewartville Trail, making a partial loop. It was a beautiful day. We took a lot of pictures.Map: (Click on the map to interact with it.)
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Pictures: (To see bigger pics at your own pace, and to read the captions, just click on the slideshow once it's playing. The Picasa album will open in a new tab/window)
The Story: This was a beautiful crisp Winter day after weeks of rain. The hills were green and lush. We know in a couple of months, we will come back for the wildflowers. We plan to do a mine tour at the same time as that next visit. You should be warned that if you come soon after a rain, you should expect lots of mud to slog through. Cattle graze freely in this park and they are no trouble, but they trample the trails when they're muddy, and it becomes quite messy.
We hiked up Stewartville Trail, to the Ridge Trail. Along the Ridge Trail there are rocks that stick up out of the grass, and make a great place to take pictures and have lunch. That's where we had our lunch. Then we hiked down Corcoran Mine Trail and made a left at the bottom where it meets up again with the
Stewartville Trail.
To get to the Prospect Tunnel, keep your eye out for a small trail that branches to the left after a rock quarry. It's a short distance to the tunnel. I was expecting it to be cold in there, but it felt very warm in the tunnel. It is dark in there, and there is a low ceiling. If you bring a flashlight, you will be able to see the crystals that grow from the ceiling in the tunnel.
Then we took the Stewartville Trail, which takes us all the way back to the start. At the parking lot, there was a ranger showing people a gopher snake. The kids were allowed to hold it, and it was a great learning experience.
There's a lot to see in this park, and all I can say is check out the pictures then plan your own hike out there.
Then we took the Stewartville Trail, which takes us all the way back to the start. At the parking lot, there was a ranger showing people a gopher snake. The kids were allowed to hold it, and it was a great learning experience.
There's a lot to see in this park, and all I can say is check out the pictures then plan your own hike out there.
