Big Bear Activities

Metzger Mine
(9.0 miles) Follow an 800-foot trail to the mine entrance.

After most of the placer sites were staked, gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the hills to the north and down through Jacoby Gulch to the east. The vein the miners followed when they dug this underground horizontal passage, or hard rock drift, is still visible above the mine entrance.

Lode claims could not be worked without heavy machinery, so a wagon road became essential. The miners pledged $1,500 and a road was cut by Jed Van Dusen down through Lower Holcomb connecting with the "new" toll road in Cajon Pass. Soon after, a wagon hauled in a four-ton boiler to power the first quartz mill. The trip took 27 days from Los Angeles to Holcomb Valley.

Gold-bearing Quartz Veins

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Metzger Mine (9.0 miles) Follow an 800-foot trail to the mine entrance.

Metzger Mine
(9.0 miles) Follow an 800-foot trail to the mine entrance.