Elkhorn Mtn Hunting Property

Description

Located deep in the heart of the Elkhorn Mountains you will find 15.45 acres of hunting property that also includes a patented mining claim. The acreage is attached on three sides to Forest Service and BLM land giving access to additional hunting and hiking trails. With two year-round streams, cascading waterfalls, and sweeping mountain views, the property offers privacy, recreation, and the rare opportunity to own both surface and mineral rights. The property has been approved for the construction of a 400 sq. ft. cabin. In addition, there are several beautiful hillside meadows overlooking game trails and timbered areas, perfect for tent sites, and you can develop an off-grid recreational base camp for year-round adventure.

Acreage:

15.45 acres

Access:

From Haines, OR, take South Rock Creek Road. Turn left on Pocahontas Rd. Turn Right on S Rock Creek Lane. Turn on FS Rd 5520. Approximately 7 miles in by 4-wheel drive from first entering the mountains. You will find a parking area on the right side of the road off the county road. From the small clearing where you park, it's a short hike up the meadow trail to the property. The access to the property has been grandfathered in through the FS.

Distances to Other Cities:

Haines - 12 miles

North Powder - 20 miles

Baker City - 23 miles

Water:

Owens Creek and one other un-named creek run year-round and are located on the Northeast quarter of the property.

Timber:

The property is partially wooded with many old-growth trees and market-value timber.

Recreation and Wildlife:

Wildlife on the property includes elk, deer, mountain goats, bear, and grouse, with additional excellent big game hunting opportunities on surrounding public lands.

You are in close proximity to Killamacue Lake for fishing and paddling. (see link below) There is easy access to Rock Creek Lake Trail and Elkhorn Crest Trail for hiking and backpacking.

Zoning:

890 RE/ME

Property Taxes:

2026 $75.04

Elevation:

5,600 ft - 5,835 ft

Mineral Rights:

The property has a Patented claim-Forest City Quartz Mine MS 235 with full mineral and surface rights.

Mining History of the Property

- Patented mining claim (Forest City Quartz Mine)
- Historic tunnel systems (per 1930s hand-drawn survey) at elevations ~5,600' and ~5,835'

- Recorded assays from 1932 by L. Motz showing notable gold values

- The Rock Creek drainage and adjacent claims have a history of quartz and placer mining activity stretching back to the late 1800s

County: Baker

History of Baker County

Until 1861, the land now known as Baker County was an unsettled wilderness, visited only by Indians and travelers on the Oregon Trail headed for the green valleys of Western Oregon. Then four men searching for the fabled Blue Bucket Mine in the fall of that year spent the night in Griffin Gulch, a minor gulley in the sagebrush-covered hills south of present-day Baker. These early adventurers found gold in the gulch and the rush was on.

The town of Auburn was soon established as the first settlement and base for exploration. By about 1870 the richest placers were exhausted, but quartz lodes were discovered and developed, although slowly, and by 1900 were substantially productive in the Cracker Creek, Cornucopia, and Sumpter districts. As placer production decreased, Auburn declined, and Baker became the most important town in the county.

Baker County Mining Heritage

Baker County is one of Oregon's most storied gold-producing regions.
Production in the Baker district has been chiefly from the placers in Griffin Gulch but this was in the early years and was unrecorded. After 1900 more than half of the gold produced in the district came from lode mines. Production of gold from 1906 through 1959 was 19,825 ounces from lode mines, 10,890 ounces from placers, and 5,437 ounces undifferentiated, a total of 36,152 ounces.
- Armstrong Nugget - Discovered in 1913 near Susanville (Grant/Baker County area), weighing 80.4 troy ounces, now on display in Baker City, symbolizing the area's rich placer gold history
- Early mining booms in the 1860s and 1870s established towns like Sumpter, Auburn, and Bourne - all near the property's mountain range
- Rock Creek and its tributaries historically yielded both placer and lode gold, with quartz mines producing ore into the mid-20th century
- Baker County's gold rush brought railroads, stamp mills, and a network of tunnels still visible today - remnants of which may be found on or near the property claim

https://www.bakercountyor.gov/facts_history/facts-history.html

https://westernmininghistory.com/library/82/page1/

https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/wallowa-whitman/recreation/killamacue-trailhead