Inside the creepy abandoned mining town hidden in Death Valley, where bullet holes still litter houses and rocks outside California’s gold rush quarry

A “ghost mine” in Death Valley, California, remains stuck in the past – with old bullet holes in homes and piled rocks outside a quarry as a result of California’s gold rush.

Abandoned since 1941, the Big Bell Mine is visited by only a handful of people each year because the site is virtually inaccessible and there are virtually no signs to direct the infrequent tourist.

But the remoteness of the 10-hectare mine has proven to be his saving grace. Founded in 1904, the Big Bell has remained untouched by time and offers visitors a glimpse into an America that is long gone.

Rusted ore bins that once buzzed from the bowels of the mine, laden with gold ore, still hang from cables as if mid-movement.

Tracks, laid more than a hundred years ago, remain anchored in the rocky earth.

It was on the very same tracks that miners and prospectors, hoping to make money, were transported in and out of the mine.

The dilapidated huts in which the workers lived and the mothwood camp beds in which they slept are also scattered across the land.

The mine is located at the bottom of Chloride Cliff. To reach the mine, one must cross 2.8 kilometers of treacherous terrain and climb 500 meters in altitude.

The journey requires a vehicle with high ground clearance, good navigation skills and good weather conditions.

It also requires a sense of daring – a sense of daring comparable to that of the prospectors who once worked in the mine below.

A steep path, flanked by iron poles that once helped drag the ore and miners up the slope, winds to the mine. The beginning of the trail is marked by a water tank sprayed with bullet holes.

The mine is beyond the reach of civilization. And time.

The Big Bell Mine was originally claimed in 1904 by John Cyty, an irascible, 6-foot-4 prospector with a penchant for risk.

Cyty claimed the Big Bell due to its proximity to the Keane Wonder Mine, a high-performing site.

He picked up hundreds of shares in Big Bell, and because the mining industry was booming, Cyty had plenty of cash.

The prospector invested his money in a dance hall in Rhyolite, where miners looking for a little reprieve from their grueling work could burn their paychecks to see women perform.

But Cyty ran afoul of locals for incorporating non-union women’s dancing, a move that frustrated both union women and nearby mining unions.

They boycotted the ballroom and Cyty’s finances deteriorated until he was eventually kicked out of the ballroom.

Always defiant, the gold digger broke back to the dance hall, where he was arrested.

Then the boom started; a nationwide financial panic put pressure on mining operations in the area.

The value of Cyty’s stock plummeted from 30 cents per share to just 4 cents. The failure prevented further investment in Big Bell.

The following year, Cyty, true to his brash and fearless character, gambled away the mine in a parlor appropriately named the Stock Exchange.

The prospector was no doubt feeling desperate and had staked 250,000 shares in the mine in a game of roulette with the saloon owner.

By the time Cyty left the salon twelve hours later, he had sold every last share of Big Bell, the value of which was estimated at $10,000.

In 1908, the Los Angeles Herald called Cyty’s roulette loss “unprecedented in the history of the state.”

Irresistibly, Cyty came up with a new claim called the Big Bell Extension, which is located near Big Bell and also features immaculate ruins.

But a rival prospector, C. Kyle Smith, disputed Cyty’s claim.

Cyty responded by telling Smith that if he showed his face in his claim, he would kill him.

In November 1908, Smith showed up at the claim, and he appeared armed.

Gunfire broke out. Cyty shot Smith in the leg and stomach – wounds that would be fatal.

Smith died and Cyty was thrown in jail for manslaughter. He served a year and a half of his ten-year sentence before being retried, acquitted and then released.

Cyty returned to Big Bell Extension, where he had built a mill and cabin, but he grew restless, quit mining and drifted away.

His mill and hut still stand.

The Coen Company took over the Big Bell Mine in 1936, hoping to develop the site and breathe some life into it.

The mine’s inaccessibility, poor terrain and declining precious metals made the venture unfeasible.

Before the year was out, the Coen Company left the site.

But the mine continues to exist, continues to rise from the land as if it were still in operation.

The equipment, although rusted, is still there, untouched by potential scavengers because it is so remote.

Speak with SFGATEJeremy Stoltzfus of Death Valley’s Abandoned Mine Lands Program explained that the mine has not needed any outside help for its preservation.

“The park did nothing at that location,” Stoltzfus said.

“Big Bell has remained virtually untouched since the miners last walked away.”