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.