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Alaska Highway
Page 4 of 15
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Churchill Mines Road
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At Mile 401 of the
Alaska Hwy a road runs south into the mountains for about 32 miles to Churchill
Mines. The road is abandoned, as is the mine, but still very travelable, except for the very
start (see first photo below).
It runs through some spectacular Rocky Mountain scenery.
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Churchill Mines Road:
Mile 2
Right near the beginning of the road, it is washed
out. I managed to get across ok with the moped.
I have no idea what shape this road is in today (2003).
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Churchill Mines Road:
Mile 10
This is a spectacular road that runs deep into the Rocky
Mountains, up the Racing River valley, and then the Churchill Creek.
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Churchill Mines Road:
Mile 15
An abandoned cabin beneath a backdrop of spectacular
mountains. It reeked of mountain sheep |
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Churchill Mines Road:
Mile 28
The high mountains of the Rockies rise all around.
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Churchill Mines Road:
Mile 29
Looking back down the valley. You can see that the road
climbs quite a bit. It was really tough ascending this hill on the
moped. It ran for 5-6 miles and I had to walk and pedal the moped
most of the way! But I stuck it out as I really wanted to see what
was at the end! |
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Churchill Mines Road:
Mile 31
Near the end, the road rises above treeline, which
is at a fairly low in elevation this far north.
Beautiful!
I camped near the old mine, arriving after midnight. It
was still light.
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Churchill Mines Road:
Mile 32
There's an abandoned mine at the end of the road.
This tunnel goes a mile deep through the mountain to another mine on
the other side. The road continues over the mountain pass to this
other mine, but I didn't go there. It was too steep for my moped,
and I was exhausted from the ride/walk in. |
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Churchill Mines Road:
Mile 32
The next morning there were mountain sheep
at the mine site, including baby ones. I
heard later that this mine was started by a few guys who got
together. The mine failed after only two years because the ore was
too difficult to get at, and as well it was far from markets. I
didn't find out what they were mining, though. 2007
Update: For some recent photos of this area visit the
Aries
Resource Corp website
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