Almaden Quicksilver Family Hike

Inside the entrance to the San Cristobal mineshaft, dug in 1866.

The theme of local exploration continued over our Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Eager to avoid the “Black Friday” crowds and shopping (did I mention that I’m allergic to malls?) and knowing that we’d be stuffing our faces with rich foods on Thanksgiving itself, I had planned a short family hike for that Friday. We’d go to Almaden Quicksilver county park – a favorite of mine and a mere 10-minute drive from home – and hike out to the cool San Cristobal mineshaft, followed by a picnic lunch. Lunch would be turkey sandwiches, of course.

We lucked out with the weather, which was about 70ºF, with clear skies and just a hint of breeze. Wonderful hiking weather! That morning we got together our packs, picnic lunches, flashlights and headlamps for the dark mineshaft. I brought along my backpacking stove and other items to brew up some hot tea, but then forgot to pack the fuel can I’d gotten out. As it turned out, it was too warm for anyone to want hot tea anyway so I lucked out there.

The park was a lot busier than normal because of the holiday weekend, but not objectionably so. I’ve not hiked much in the past year so I was definitely feeling out of shape, but still it wasn’t a difficult hike, and the exercise was appreciated. Our route took us from the Wood Road parking lot trailhead and out to the old rotary furnace structures, then along Mine Hill. At Bull Run, we took the trail down to the San Cristobal mineshaft, our main goal for the hike. I always enjoy visiting this unique remnant of the Old West, and feeling the warm, damp air coming from the deep tunnels below.

When we were done at the mine, we reversed course back up Mine Hill to Bull Run, where we had a relaxing lunch at one of the picnic tables. After eating, it was just a matter of backtracking to the trailhead, where we arrived just as the sun had ducked below the mountains to the West. That concluded our nice afternoon of hiking in the park… And we’d successfully avoided Black Friday for another year, woohoo!

Small Gallery of Photos from the Hike