A Spring Hike at Almaden Quicksilver County Park

Despite the drought there were lots of wildflowers on display yesterday at Almaden Quicksilver County Park. My College of San Mateo class gathered at the Hacienda entrance on the southeast end of the park. In the nineteenth century this was where a heavy red rock called cinnabar was hauled down the mountain from the mines for the extraction of mercury. From 1846 until 1975 mercury was mined from these hills.

Our hike of more than six miles began with a steady uphill ascent on the Mine Hill Trail, where we paused frequently to watch acorn woodpeckers and to see many beautiful wild flowers, including brodiaea, buttercup, fiesta flower, larkspur, globe lilly, lupine, Indian paintbrush, sticky monkey flower, clematis, wild onion, Douglas iris, and big-leaf maple in bloom.

We continued on the Mine Hill Trail to a short side trip to the San Cristobal Tunnel, which was excavated in 1866. This is the only mine in the park open to the public. After inspecting the tunnel interior we stopped for lunch. A horizontal mine is called a tunnel. A vertical mine is called a shaft.

After lunch we continued to the intersection of the Mine Hill Trail and the Castillero Trail, where we stopped to appreciate a beautiful view of Mount Umunhum and Loma Prieta, which is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Heading east on the Castillero Trail, we stopped to inspect serpentine rock and then continued to the abandoned rotary furnace, where cinnabar was heated to separate mercury during the mining period. Ditches were installed to try to prevent mercury from flowing from the furnace to the Guadalupe River. Old mining furnaces like this are among the main sources of mercury contamination in San Francisco Bay.

We then turned north on the Yellow Kid Trail and stopped to examine the relics of English Town, where Cornish miners lived in the nineteenth century. It is amazing how quickly the works of man disappear after they are abandoned to the elements. From English Town it is a steep descent on the Deep Gulch Trail back to the parking lot at Hacienda. After the hike some of us stopped at the mining museum at Casa Grande in the town of New Almaden. Here you can touch and hold a piece of cinnabar. This ten thousand square foot house, built in the 1850's was once the home to mining superintendents.

TO GET THERE... From Highway 85 take the Almaden Expressway turnoff and head south. Turn right on Almaden Road for about three miles to the

Hacienda Trail head parking lot.