Mount Gaines Road

Mount Gaines Road is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Hornitos in Mariposa County. The origin of Mount Gaines Road is at Bear Valley Road (County Route J16) and the corridor extends southward 4.3 miles to Hornitos Road. The entirety of Mount Gaines Road is comprised of a dirt surface and crosses El Dorado Creek via a normally dry ford.

Mount Gaines Road is named after the Mount Gaines Mine which was struck in 1868. The Mount Gaines Mine is one of the last remaining claims which was tied to the ghost town of Quartzburg. Quartzburg was founded around quartz-based mining claims in 1847 was an active community until the 1860s. The nearby city of Hornitos would attract most of the residents from Quartzburg along with much of the mining business. The Mount Gaines Mine for a time was defunct and reopened as a wholesale quarry in 2003.

Part 1; the history of Mount Gaines Road

Mount Gaines Road is named after the Mount Gaines Mine which is located east of El Dorado Creek. The Mount Gaines Mine is part of the Hornitos Mining District and last remaining mine active which was attached to the ghost town of Quartzburg.

The town of Quartzburg was located near the intersection of Bear Valley Road (County Route J16) and Mount Gaines Road on Burns Creek. In 1847 John and Robert Burns would arrive in the area where they would stake numerous mining claims. The area around Burns Creek boomed and a small village began to develop. By November 1850 amid the California Gold Rush the village on Burns Creek had fourteen rich gold-bearing quartz deposits being worked. The village would take on the name Quartzburg and would receive Post Office service on October 7, 1851.

White settlers in Quartzburg were hostile to the numerous Mexican miners who arrived in early Mariposa County. By 1850 the Mexican miners would relocate approximately two miles to the southwest where they founded the town of Hornitos. In 1851 Quartzburg had an operating school, masonic hall, bowling alley and store owned by Thomas Thorne.

Quartzburg soon found itself outcompeted with Hornitos. Hornitos had far better access to the Stockton-Los Angeles Road and Cunningham Toll Road to Mariposa. By the early 1860s the easy placer deposits in Quartzburg were exhausted and the community Post Office would close on February 2, 1861.

The Mount Gaines Mine would be struck as one of the last major claims in the Quartzburg area in 1868. The Mount Gaines Mine was located a short distance east of Quartzburg along El Dorado Creek at the foot of Mount Gaines. The claim at Mount Gaines would mostly be worked by residents of Hornitos and did little to slow the decline of Quartzburg. The primary commodity at Mount Gaines as gold with secondary mineral sources being silver, lead, zinc and copper.

On June 3, 1868, the Mariposa County commissioners approved a petition to realign the county road the southern end of El Dorado Creek. This realignment branched northward from the Number 9 Mine and directly served the Mount Gaines Mine.

In 1870 the Quartzburg School would open and would be one of the last functioning facilities in the dying community. Despite the opening of the school Quartzburg would quickly fade from maps. The intersection of Bear Valley Road and Mount Gaines Road (marked with a blue pin) can be seen on the 1893 United States Geological map with no reference to Quartzburg.

The ruins of Quartzburg can be seen below in a photo taken during 1937 (Mariposa Pictures & History Facebook page).

Mount Gaines Road can be seen in detail on the 1947 Unites States Geological Survey map. The Quartzburg School and Mount Gaines Mine can be seen as prominent waypoints.

In 2003 the Mount Gaines Mine was purchased by Jack Bankhead who reopened it as Mount Gaines Rock. Mount Gaines Rock functions as a quarry which offers wholesale road base, crushed rock, fill, ornamental quartz and construction sand.

Part 2; a drive on Mount Gaines Road

Mount Gaines Road begins at Bear Valley Road (County Route J16) northeast of Hornitos.

Traffic on Mount Gaines Road is notified of flood prone ford of El Dorado Creek 3.5 miles to the south.

The asphalt gives way and Mount Gaines Road passes the entrance to Mount Gaines Rock.

Mountain Gaines Road passes the foundation of a water tank which appears to have once serviced the Mount Gaines Mine.

Mount Gaines Road intersects Number 9 Road. Number 9 Road is named after the Number 9 Mine which is located a short distance to the west. Said gold mine was opened in 1855 and is now defunct.