Ochoco National Forest · Oregon

Independent Mine

4.1 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 808 · trail class 3 · typical grade 12-20% · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking, horse, bike

Trailhead Mother Lode Mine Trailhead Drive there

Mother Lode Mine Trailhead the Forest Service's write-up

This is a free facility. · reservation required

This trailhead is an access point for both Mother Lode Mine Trail (#808A) and also Independent Mine Trail (#808) .

Each of these great historic sites helps to give insight and perspective into the history from which the local towns developed.

All of the structures are unmaintained and should only be observed from the outside. If you choose to enter them then you are doing so at your own risk.

Take an afternoon and try to imagine yourself in the days of the past when this area was first settled. It can be fascinating to see how far we’ve come, yet how much has stayed the same.

Click here to view a map of the Lookout Mountain trails system .

Restrictions This is a Day-Use only facility.  No overnight camping is permitted at trailheads or Sno-Parks on the Ochoco National Forest or Crooked River National Grassland.

This trailhead on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Ochoco National Forest

Other trails from the Mother Lode Mine Trailhead

All 63 trails in Ochoco National ForestFind a trailForest on fs.usda.gov

About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.