Caltopo paintbrush divide12/8/2022 ![]() The Great Sierra Wagon Road was built to bring supplies to the mines near Tioga Pass. I headed up the trail, which used to part of the old road system created by the mining operations related to the Great Sierra Mining Company. You can also hike up to these beautiful places I visited from Junction Campground just a couple of miles east at the Saddlebag Lake Road junction with Hwy 120. You will know you are in the right spot because there is an old piece of mining equipment on the east side of this parking area but it is nestled in the trees and easy to miss. I drove just a smidge east of this and there is a wide spot on the left where I parked. East of the Yosemite National Park’s Tioga Pass entrance, there is a large parking lot with restrooms above Tioga Lake. Where: Inyo National Forest, Hoover Wilderness, Hall Natural Areaĭifficulty: Easy to Moderate (depends on how far you go and the route)ĬALTOPO: Hiking to the Great Sierra Mine and Beyond But they brought a town, telephone line and most importantly a road they called the Great Sierra Wagon Road, the road that today we call the Tioga Road. But they are long gone, been gone over 100 years. Mining equipment is strewn near the tunnel opening and firewood is stacked, ready to be brought down to the miners. As I hiked in their footsteps, it almost felt like they could be returning any day now. Miners were digging their way by the shovelful through a rocky mountain, hoping to make their big strike along “The Great Silver Belt,” but that big strike never happened. ![]()
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