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A short trail connecting several historical mining sites.


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Map Key

0.6

Miles

1.0

KM

Point to Point

1,519' 463 m

High

1,409' 430 m

Low

14' 4 m

Up

110' 33 m

Down

4%

Avg Grade (2°)

11%

Max Grade (6°)

Dogs Leashed

Features Wildlife

Family Friendly Kids will enjoy the opportunity to see aging mine equipment, and this trail offers a tangible look into the areas history.

Description

The Yellow Kid Trail goes through the New Almaden Mine area that was a hub of activity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when cinnabar (mercury ore) was mined here. Mercury was extracted from the cinnabar by the Mine Hill Rotary Furnace at this site.

The Yellow Kid Trail starts at the Wood Road Trail, where the ruins of the old Mine Hill Rotary Furnace are. It is a very wide open trail and intersects the Hidalgo Cemetery Trail after about a tenth of a mile. Views of the unpopulated Santa Cruz Mountains can be seen. At the junction with the Hidalgo Cemetery Trail, to the left, in the distance, the ruins of the on-site mine supervisor's house can be seen. To the right is the site of the old Spanish Town where the Mexican, Spanish, and Chilean miners lived.

Crossing Hidalgo Cemetery Trail, the trail remains wide and well traveled as it enters terrain covered with thick bushes. After about a quarter of a mile, one arrives at the site of the entrance to the Main Tunnel of the New Almaden Mine. Continuing another few hundred yards, the trail enters thicker woods, and one comes upon the site of the Yellow Kid Tunnel entrance to the New Almaden Mine.

After the site of the Yellow Kid Tunnel entrance, this trail narrows to a singletrack path. The Yellow Kid Trail then ends at the next central trail junction, after a few hundred more yards. Here it joins Castillero Trail and English Camp Trail.

Contacts

Land Manager: Santa Clara County Parks

Shared By:

Joan Pendleton

Trail Ratings

  3.0 from 1 vote

#30438

Overall
  3.0 from 1 vote
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Trail Rankings

#3,392

in California

#30,438

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2 Views Last Month
501 Since Dec 18, 2016
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Photos

The old English Camp, pictured here, was a town of about 1000 people inhabited by miners and their families in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when nearby mines were active.
Jan 1, 2017 near Almaden…, CA
The Castillero Trail offers an interesting perspective into the ruins of the old mine office.
Jan 1, 2017 near Almaden…, CA
Getting close to the ruins of the Mine Hill Rotary Furnace - used to extract mercury from cinnabar in the early 20th century.
Dec 18, 2016 near Almaden…, CA
Ruins of the Mine Hill Rotary Furnace - used to extract mercury from cinnabar in the early 20th century.
Dec 18, 2016 near Almaden…, CA
Ruins of the old Mine Hill mine on-site supervisor's home.
Dec 18, 2016 near Almaden…, CA
Site of the Yellow Kid Tunnel entrance to the New Almaden Mine, a cinnabar (mercury ore) mine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Dec 18, 2016 near Almaden…, CA

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