Clipper Mine, Pierce County WA USA

A trip report on a recent visit to the Pierce County Washington Clipper copper mine in the Carbon River Mining District

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• abandoned
• mine
• WA
• Clipper
• copper
• shaft
• ruins
• gold
• silver
• national
• forest
• mining
• road

[murphtall]

@fjordlover: i see the wilkeson mine near where you said to google do you know if they allow people to poke around on off days?

[adcre8tr]

@murphtall If you're asking about the Clipper mine, it has been abandoned since the early 1900's.

[alex98444]

hi how do you get there i tried to look it up online but all i found was gps cordents i need driving directions so i can take my boy scout troop there it looks fun thanks

[adcre8tr]

Do a Google map search for Clipper Mine, Mt. Rainier WA and then "get directions." The trail is about .10 mile past where Google directions end. Trail is an old mine road on the left after you cross the Shiplake Creek waterfall next to the road.

[bigtopwilly]

I hear there is a mine above the clipper that something like 14 miles of tunnel. I have'nt been able to find it yet thought, or any of the other 30 or so mines in the neighborhood.

[adcre8tr]

Check out the Inventory of Washington Minerals - 1956 by the Washington State Division of Mines and Geology (Google book search). You will find some information on the mines in the Carbon River Mining District. As far as I can tell, the Clipper is the deepest mine up there, but you are right, there are many others.

[yerboogieman]

I just got back. 1:33 is STEEP! I went straight up because it was a lot quicker. Unfortunately, we didn't make our annual trip up to Coplay because it was getting late.

[infidel2012]

Nice vid. Now I know why there's so much litter in my mine now. It's either the Queen Bee or the Silverload mine above the Clipper...can't remember which. One has been blasted shut and the other has a pile of logs covering the entrance, which may for all I know be blasted also. Besides, the mine above lies in a swampy area near the lake which the waterfall inside the Clipper comes from. There are even more mines inside MT Rainier Park. Stay out of all coal mines! Clipper is hard rock.

[bigtopwilly]

@murphtall The wilkeson mine is Coal. Stay away from coal mines. They are deadly.

[fjordlover]

Here, most of these places are in my "back yard" I live on the hill just west of the Wilkeson Stone Quarry. The old "Peanut Mine" is below the western part of our ranch. Google map search: Packs Llama Way Buckley, WA 98321. We are NNE of the city of Wilkeson, WA. VERY interesting videos. Thanks

[bigtopwilly]

@adcre8tr Thanks for the title. I've been trying to find something with good info. I have stumbled on some articles from the turn of the century. A friend of mine went to the washington state geological library in Olyimpia and found a report written by a state geologist. It really made it sound like that area was loaded with good deposits, and based on his report, the state built Hwy 165-163.