Overview

Lakeside Mine (sometimes referred to as Lakeview Mine) is located out at the far southwest end of Gold Butte National Monument in hills with a great "lake-view" of Lake Mead. A mine camp with four buildings and an outhouse, a bit of old gear, a few adits, a surface mine, several prospects, and one shaft with headgear remain. This mine is so far out and hard to get to that it is a destination, but mostly it is an interesting site to poke around for a few minutes before continuing west to the edge of the lake.

One reference indicates that the mine operated from about 1937 to at least 1940 and produced mostly copper, gold, and silver, but details are scant. However, another record suggests that the last shipment of ore in 1956.

Link to map.

Watch Out

Other than the standard warnings about driving in the desert, ... this is a pretty safe area, but stay out of holes in the ground, as they are never safe to enter. The roads are a bit rough, so be sure to drive a 4WD vehicle.

This is wild and remote country without services of any kind (no restrooms, no water, no gas, no food). Bring what you need to survive. Be prepared and be self-reliant. It is a big place, but someone will eventually find you if you stay on a main road, but be prepared to survive alone for a day or two, or even longer on side roads. Consider signaling the tourist helicopters that traverse the area coming and going from the Grand Canyon.

While out, please respect the land and the other people out there, and try to Leave No Trace of your passage. Also, this is a remote area, so be sure to bring the 10 Essentials.

Getting to Lakeside Mine

Lakeside Mine is located out in Gold Butte National Monument at the northeast end of Lake Mead, about 5 hours northeast of Las Vegas in a wild, remote, and scenic area.

From town, drive out the paved Gold Butte Road for 21 miles to Whitney Pocket. Continue south on the unpaved Gold Butte Road for 20 miles to Gold Butte Townsite.

Continue southwest on Scanlon Road for 9.2 miles to Lakeside Mine Road. Turn right onto Lakeside Mine Road and drive west. The fine road quickly lulls drivers into a false sense of tranquility, and then at 0.3 miles out, stay left to cross a wash and head south. The now narrow, steep, and rocky road climbs over a ridge and then a higher one before running west down a wash about 3 miles. Heading south, the road climbs over another high ridge, then descends to a signed intersection at about 5.7 miles out. Stay left and climb steeply to a ridge about 7.25 miles out with a view down onto the mine camp. Past the camp, at about 7.4 miles out, the road forks. The left goes out to the underground mines, while the right goes out to the surface mine.

Lakeside Mine

Visiting Lakeside Mine involves navigating the road and then visiting the miner's camp (ghost town), several adits in the bottom of a canyon, a mine shaft with wooden headgear, and a surface mine site.

Entering the area, the miner's cabins are encountered first. There are two upper buildings, two lower building, and a large outhouse set some distance down the hill. Beyond the camp, the road goes up a canyon forks. Staying left in the bottom of the canyon, the road passes adits on both sides. The adit on the north side is more than 100-ft deep. On the south side, there are several shallow adits, but a culvert used to slide ore down the hillside attracts attention. The road continues up to a ridge overlooking Lake Mead. From there, it is a short walk north to the shaft with headgear.

Staying right at the fork in the canyon, the narrow road snakes across hillsides to a surface mine where blue minerals can still be seen in the cutbank.