While
some of Nevada’s mining camps were bestowed with elegant or optimistic names,
such as Belmont (meaning “beautiful mountain”) or Midas (named for the
legendary king with the golden touch), Tunnel Camp’s name was pretty literal.
It had a tunnel.
Tunnel
Camp is located about 14 miles north of Lovelock. To reach it, head into the
town of Lovelock, then head north on Western Avenue (State Route 854) for about
a mile. Turn north on Sand Hill Avenue and continue another 1.5 miles. Turn
west on Pitt Road (State Route 399) for 11.9 miles, then turn right onto a dirt
road leading into the camp ruins.
According
to ghost town historian Stanley Paher, Tunnel Camp (originally just called
Tunnel or New Seven Troughs) was developed in 1927 when the Nevada State Mining
Company formed to build a cyanide mill and dig a tunnel into the shafts of the
old Seven Troughs mining district.
The
idea, similar to that of Sutro Tunnel near Virginia City, was to tunnel about
two-and-a-half miles (horizontally) into the old mines to drain water and allow
for easier hauling of the rock and ore.
To
support this effort, a company town formed, which boasted more than two-dozen
buildings including a store, bunkhouse, powerhouse, bathhouse, and several
homes.
The
project initially showed potential as the tunnel encountered several gold veins
but then bogged down when the company realized the tunnel’s alignment was askew
and correcting the problem proved cost prohibitive.
As
a result, the company decided to abandon the camp in 1934. Small scale mining
restarted later in the 30s and again in the 1950s but Tunnel proved to be more
of a money pit than a golden opportunity.
According
to several historians, Tunnel Camp never became a true town but was always more
of a “well-equipped” company camp. Some of its structures, in fact, were
relocated from another, older mining town, Vernon, which was about two miles to
the south and east.
According
to former Nevada State Mining Engineer Hugh Shamberger, who authored nearly a
dozen exhaustively-researched books about various Nevada mining towns, in early
1929, after reaching a length of about 7,500-feet, the tunnel’s diggers
realized they’re calculations were off so they dropped back several hundred
feet to compensate.
By
November, when they had reached 10,000-feet, they intersected several ore
bodies and began digging drifts to follow the veins. However, after tunneling
another 1,000-feet, they discovered they had not dug the tunnel at the proper
angle so they failed to reach the proper level of most of the old mines. The
project proved to be an expensive failure, according to Shamberger.
Despite
the camp’s dismal past, a visit to Tunnel Camp is worthwhile. Apparently, people
resided in the area until about a decade or so ago so some of the buildings are
fairly well-preserved.
An
old miner’s house is largely intact (albeit with no windows and decaying wooden
flooring) as is the impressive brick powerhouse. Several other wooden
structures, also in fairly good condition, are scattered around the hillside,
which affords views of the beautiful (and appropriately-named) surrounding Sage
Valley.
Peeking
through the sagebrush and high grasses are concrete foundations and other reminders
of the camp’s rich but short history.
About
two miles southeast of the camp site is a small cemetery with wooden markers
that appears to be maintained by locals. During a recent visit, Mardi Gras
beads festooned the graves along with artificial flowers and other objects.
