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The road to Keane Wonder Mill is 5.5 miles up from the Beatty turnoff from Hwy 190. Take a right turn and head just under 3 miles on washboard dirt to the parking lot at the end. Here's Ken (in the Land Rover Discovery), Gordon (in the Pathfinder) and Darren (in the Landcruiser) arriving at the end of the road.
At the parking lot you'll find this nice warning sign.
As you walk up to the mill, there's a dumping ground on the left. Amongst the items is this old safe with the door missing.
The Keane Wonder Mill was build to process the ore from the Keane Wonder Mine. The mine is further up the mountain, and it is a strenuous hike to get there (so we're told).
The remains of the tramway can be seen on the skyline above the mill.
The whole structure is a great place to explore, and as you can see from these photos, not many people get up here. While you're looking around, don't forget to look down. During spring the wildflowers grow everywhere. Even among the old mine tailing you can find Desert Five-Spots.
If you climb up to the top of the structure you get a good idea of how the tramway worked as well as a great view back down into Death Valley. On the way back down to the parking lot, look up and right. You'll see an old tunnel entrance which goes clear through the hill (and turns 90 degrees inside the hill)
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Ore bin
