This was an interesting question posed, though like many there is no simple answer. So I will do this in installments over the next few months.

When the Noble’s Emigrant Trail opened up the Honey Lake Valley, one would thought may be some of the travelers would stop. After all there a number of diary entries when the emigrants first saw the Honey Lake Valley it was a wondrous site with fresh water, grass, pine forests after having traversed endless miles across the Nevada desert. That was not case, whether the area was too remote or they had other plans.

Needless to say it was gold that brought the first wave of settlers. However, when they arrived, they had already been in California. After all it was Peter Lassen who in 1855 brought the first group to the Honey Lake Valley with their discovery gold near the place where he would later be buried. Lassen was a native of Denmark, and came to California in 1840. By 1851 after having failed at several business ventures Lassen had settled at nearby Indian Valley. In 1850, he first came into the Honey Lake Valley in search of the fabled Gold Lake. Lassen not satisfied with his initial gold discovery in the valley continued with prospecting ventures the last one in the Black Rock Desert in 1859 that was a fatal mistake.

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Yesterday, I mentioned what Hayden Hill was like in 1974. If you are thinking of making a trip there in the near future, think again. In. 1991, Amex Gold, Inc. formed Lassen Gold Mining which mined Hayden Hill from 1992-1997. Actually, the mountain was obliterated. The entire mountain is fenced off to the public.

As a Lassen County Planning Commissioner I had the opportunity to inspect Hayden Hill in the fall of 2010. The property is still under a reclamation process, which is secured with bonds deposited with the County of Lassen. The County Planning Department and ultimately the Planning Commission oversees the process—hence the opportunity for my visit.

One area that remained unscathed from the mining operations as stipulated in the use permit was the Hayden Hill Cemetery. It is interesting to note that the juniper tree in the photograph above taken in 1909, was still there in 2010. One item that caught my interest, I spotted the entrance to the Golden Eagle Mine. I was surprised for I thought for sure it would have been obliterated. Alas, taking of photographs was prohibited and a very attentive representative of Lassen Gold Mining was not going to allow me to roam around.

On a side note, when we had departed from Hayden Hill through the locked gates, we saw a vehicle approaching. It turns out they came to see the ghost town indicated in their AAA travel book.

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Recently, I came across a couple of photographs of Hayden Hill. For those not familiar, it was Lassen County’s premiere mining town, 55 miles north of Susanville and about 12 miles south of Adin.

Like so many mining towns throughout the west, Hayden Hill experienced many boom and bust cycles. In1942, when the U.S. Government put a halt to gold mining during World War II, what little mining activity left at Hayden Hill faded away, and never came back.

By the 1950s and 60s, Hayden Hill’s visitors consisted mainly of rockhounds, bottle collectors and those curious to see a ghost town.

The Golden Eagle Mine was the largest and most productive mine on Hayden Hill. I was not aware that as late as 1974 remnants of the mill still remained. However, the entrance to the mine was still intact, and still was in 2010 when I was there. It should be noted, that Hayden Hill is sealed off to the public, more about that tomorrow.

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