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Abandoned mines › Colorado
Abandoned mine inventory

Abandoned mines in Garfield County, Colorado

Garfield County, Colorado has 283 mine and prospect features on USGS topographic maps published 1952–1987, including 51 mine openings (shafts, adits and air shafts) and 168 prospect pits; 13 of the features carry a name on the map. OSMRE's abandoned mine land inventory lists 87 problems in the county, 34 of them not yet reclaimed. MSHA's register carries 67 mines in the county with status Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed.

Every mine and prospect feature the USGS digitized from historical topographic maps covering Garfield County, every OSMRE abandoned mine land problem in the county, and every MSHA-registered mine here with status Abandoned. Named features are listed below; unnamed ones are counted by type. Locations are deliberately not shown: this page says what abandoned workings are in the county, not where to find them. They are dangerous and should not be entered.

Mapped mine features (USGS)
283
Mine openings
51
OSMRE problems unreclaimed
34
MSHA mines marked abandoned
67
13 features carry a name168 prospect pits36 quadrangle maps, published 1952–1987 87 OSMRE problems, 53 reclaimed 4 MSHA mines abandoned and sealed
What the features are
  1. Mine openings
    shafts, adits, air shafts, portals and vertical openings: the ways into underground workings
    87 23.5%
  2. Prospect pits and trenches
    shallow exploration diggings that never became a mine
    168 45.4%
  3. Mines and surface workings
    labelled mines, open pits, strip mines, placer and hydraulic workings
    12 3.2%
  4. Quarries, gravel and borrow pits
    construction-material and industrial-mineral extraction
    48 13.0%
  5. Dumps, tailings, spoil and gob
    what mining left above ground
    19 5.1%
  6. Other reclamation problems
    highwalls, subsidence, polluted or clogged water, fires, slides and gases in OSMRE's inventory
    36 9.7%
Named features on the maps13 named · from the USGS compilation
Name on map Feature
Anvil Points Oil Shale Mines Adit
Black Diamond Mine Adit
Gray Eagle Mine Adit
Marion Mine Adit
Rifle Mine Adit
Rifle Mine Mine Dump area
Rifle Mine Mine Dump area
Rifle Mine Mine Dump area
Rio Blanco Mine Adit
Rulison Oil Shale Mine Adit
South Canyon Mine Adit
Sunlight Mine Adit
Vanadium Mill Tailings - Mill area

A name is the label printed beside the symbol on the map. "First mapped" is the earliest topographic edition that shows the symbol, which bounds the feature's age from above; it is not the date it was worked. Unnamed features (most prospect pits, adits and shafts carry no label) are in the counts above but not this list.

OSMRE abandoned mine land problems87 on inventory
Problem area Problem Status
Atlas Mine - 76/85-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Atlas Mine - 76/85-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Big 3 Mine - 62/90-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Big 3 Mine - 62/90-01 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Big 3 Mine - 62/90-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Black Diamond/cardiff - 98/70-01 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Black Diamond/cardiff - 98/70-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Co - Garfield - Fea P1 Gases: Hazardous/Explosive Reclamation Completed
Coryell - 82/82-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
Coryell - 82/82-01 P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Coryell - 82/82-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Coryell - 82/82-01 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Coryell - 82/82-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Elk Creek Mine - Noi P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
Estes - 58/91-01 - Noi P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Estes - 58/91-01 - Noi P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Estes - 58/91-01 - Noi P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Garfield - Non-coal-county-wide P1 Portals In Reclamation
Garfield - Non-coal-county-wide P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
Garfield - Non-coal-county-wide P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Garfield County - Coal - Co-wide P3 Mine Opening Reclamation Pending
Gem/south Canyon #2 - Noi P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
Gem/south Canyon #2 - Noi P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Grass Valley Mine - 72/87-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Grass Valley Mine - 72/87-01 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Grass Valley Mine - 72/87-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Harvey Gap (old) - 71/87-02 P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Harvey Gap (old) - 71/87-02 P1 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
Harvey Gap (old) - 71/87-02 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Harvey Gap (old) - 71/87-02 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Harvey Gap (old) - 71/87-02 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Harvey Gap (old) - 71/87-02 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Harvey Gap (old) - 71/87-02 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Harvey Gap #3 - 71/87-01 - Noi P2 Portals In Reclamation
Harvey Gap #3 - 71/87-01 - Noi P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Hot Point - Noi P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Hot Point - Noi P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Ihi/d&h/haas Mines - 65/89-01 P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
Ihi/d&h/haas Mines - 65/89-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
Ihi/d&h/haas Mines - 65/89-01 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Keystone Mine - 79/83-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Kirschen - 98/67-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Kirschen - 98/67-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Marion #2 - 00/60-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Marion #2 - 00/60-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Morgan Mine - Noi P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
Morgan Mine - Noi P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
New Castle #1 - 84/81-02 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
New Castle #1 - 84/81-02 P2 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
New Castle #1 - 84/81-02 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
New Castle #1 - 84/81-02 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
New Castle #3 - 81/83-01 - Noi P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
New Castle #3 - 81/83-01 - Noi P2 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
New Castle #3 - 81/83-01 - Noi P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
New Castle #4 - 81/81-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
New Castle #4 - 81/81-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Pocahontas #1 & #2 - 99/65-01 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Red Ash Mine - 88/80-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Pending
Rex/bellodi Mines - 93/77-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Rifle Gap - 62/89-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Rifle Gap - 62/89-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Rifle Mine - 61/90-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Rifle Mine - 61/90-01 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Rifle Mine - 61/90-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Salt Creek - 90/66-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
South Canyon #1 - 92/78-02 P1 Portals Reclamation Completed
South Canyon #1 - 92/78-02 P1 Subsidence Reclamation Completed
South Canyon #1 - 92/78-02 P1 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
South Canyon #1 - 92/78-02 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
South Canyon #1 - 92/78-02 P1 Underground Mine Fires In Reclamation
South Canyon #1 - 92/78-02 P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
South Canyon #1 - 92/78-02 P2 Surface Burning Reclamation Completed
South Canyon #1 - 92/78-02 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Stove Canyon - 95/60-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed
Stove Canyon - 95/60-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Sunlight/midland - 99/63-01 P2 Portals In Reclamation
Sunlight/midland - 99/63-01 P2 Vertical Openings Reclamation Pending
Sunshine Mine - 99/63-02 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
Sunshine Mine - 99/63-02 P2 Portals Reclamation Pending
Sunshine Mine - 99/63-02 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Vulcan Mine - 84/81-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Pending
Vulcan Mine - 84/81-01 P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Vulcan Mine - 84/81-01 P1 Vertical Openings Reclamation Completed
Vulcan Mine - 84/81-01 P2 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Vulcan Mine - 84/81-01 P3 Gobs Reclamation Pending
Zemlock/s. Canyon Mine - 92/78-01 P1 Underground Mine Fires Reclamation Completed
Zemlock/s. Canyon Mine - 92/78-01 P2 Portals Reclamation Completed

Problem types carry OSMRE's priority prefix: P1 and P2 are threats to health, safety and property, P3 is environmental. A problem area is a cluster of problems reclaimed as one project; several rows can share one location.

MSHA-registered mines with status Abandoned67 on register
  1. 1976 Cedar Rapids
    Surface metal/non-metal · Holder Construction Company · MSHA ID 0504129
    Abandoned
  2. Allen Water Creek
    Surface metal/non-metal · L A Young Sons Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503521
    Abandoned
  3. Big 3 Mine
    Underground coal · Richard Klippstein & W O Pickett Jr · MSHA ID 0503648
    Abandoned
  4. Blue Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Mobile Premix Company · MSHA ID 0503885
    Abandoned
  5. Carbondale Plant-Wash Plant
    Surface metal/non-metal · Western Slope Materials, LLC · MSHA ID 0504631
    Abandoned
  6. Cathedral Bluffs
    Underground metal/non-metal · Emrx Corp · MSHA ID 0503140
    Abandoned
  7. CHAMBERS PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Casey Concrete Company · MSHA ID 0503958
    Abandoned
  8. Clough Island
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Highways · MSHA ID 0503358
    Abandoned
  9. Clough Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Flatiron Paving Company Of Greeley · MSHA ID 0503357
    Abandoned
  10. Coal Basin Rock Tunnel
    Surface coal · Mid-Continent Resources Inc · MSHA ID 0503645
    Abandoned
  11. Coal Ridge #1 Mine
    Underground coal · Ncig Financial Inc · MSHA ID 0503718
    Abandoned
  12. Colony Oil Shale Project
    Underground metal/non-metal · Exxon Mobil Corporation · MSHA ID 0501887
    Abandoned
  13. Crusher 1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Sam'S Crushing · MSHA ID 0504488
    Abandoned
  14. Deere Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Corn Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503705
    Abandoned
  15. Dere Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Highways · MSHA ID 0503442
    Abandoned
  16. East Salt Creek Test Site No 1 Mine
    Underground coal · Sheridan Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 0503029
    Abandoned
  17. Eastside Mine
    Underground coal · Eastside Coal Company Inc · MSHA ID 0502421
    Abandoned and Sealed
  18. Exxon Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Schmidt-Tiago Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503738
    Abandoned
  19. Flag Sand and Gravel
    Surface metal/non-metal · Wild Branch Stone · MSHA ID 0504906
    Abandoned
  20. Garfield County Pits
    Surface metal/non-metal · Garfield County Government · MSHA ID 0503302
    Abandoned
  21. Half Pints Crusher
    Surface metal/non-metal · Mobile Premix Company · MSHA ID 0502399
    Abandoned
  22. Lindauer Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Highways · MSHA ID 0503494
    Abandoned
  23. Logan Wash
    Underground metal/non-metal · Emrx Corp · MSHA ID 0502248
    Abandoned
  24. Loma No 1 Mine
    Underground coal · Louisiana Land & Exploration Company · MSHA ID 0502907
    Abandoned
  25. Loma No 3 Mine
    Underground coal · Sheridan Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 0503235
    Abandoned
  26. Loma No 4 Mine
    Underground coal · Sheridan Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 0503236
    Abandoned
  27. Loma No 5 Mine
    Underground coal · Sheridan Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 0503237
    Abandoned
  28. Loma No 6 Mine
    Underground coal · Sheridan Enterprises Inc · MSHA ID 0503238
    Abandoned
  29. Mahoffey Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Corn Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503623
    Abandoned
  30. Mamm Creek Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Grant Brothers Construction LLC · MSHA ID 0504567
    Abandoned
  31. Marion Canyon
    Underground coal · Mountain States Machinery & Supply Inc · MSHA ID 0503593
    Abandoned
  32. Mc Clane Canyon Mine
    Underground coal · McClane Canyon Mining, LLC · MSHA ID 0503013
    Abandoned and Sealed
  33. Mid-Continent Limestone Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Pitkin Iron Corp · MSHA ID 0500004
    Abandoned
  34. Mobil Experimental Mine
    Underground metal/non-metal · Mobil Oil Corp · MSHA ID 0503603
    Abandoned
  35. Mountain Mobil Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Empire Contracting Corp · MSHA ID 0503670
    Abandoned
  36. MTNS-Portable Plant #5
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lafarge West Incorporated · MSHA ID 0504474
    Abandoned
  37. Munger Canyon Mine
    Underground coal · Lodestar Energy Inc · MSHA ID 0503119
    Abandoned and Sealed
  38. New Castle
    Surface coal · Mountain States Machinery & Supply Inc · MSHA ID 0503606
    Abandoned
  39. Northern Portable #1
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lafarge West, Inc. · MSHA ID 0504821
    Abandoned
  40. NORTHERN PORTABLE PLANT #15
    Surface metal/non-metal · Martin Marietta Materials · MSHA ID 0504647
    Abandoned
  41. NORTHERN PORTABLE PLANT #22
    Surface metal/non-metal · Lafarge West Incorporated · MSHA ID 0503802
    Abandoned
  42. Nu Gap No 3 Mine
    Underground coal · Henry Bendetti Coal Company · MSHA ID 0500441
    Abandoned
  43. Nu-Gap (Ug)
    Underground coal · Bendetti Bros Coal Co · MSHA ID 0500352
    Abandoned
  44. Ortiz
    Surface metal/non-metal · Corn Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503914
    Abandoned
  45. Parachute Creek Long Ridge
    Underground metal/non-metal · Union Oil Company Of California · MSHA ID 0503143
    Abandoned
  46. Parachute It
    Surface metal/non-metal · Corn Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503913
    Abandoned
  47. Peterson Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Corn Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503911
    Abandoned
  48. Pit 2
    Surface metal/non-metal · Flag Resources Inc. · MSHA ID 0504742
    Abandoned
  49. Pitkin Iron Corporation
    Facility metal/non-metal · Pitkin Iron Corp · MSHA ID 0502725
    Abandoned
  50. Portable Crusher Ops CVAC-1
    Surface metal/non-metal · CVAC Central Vacuum Systems Inc · MSHA ID 0504997
    Abandoned
  51. Powers
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Highways · MSHA ID 0503359
    Abandoned
  52. Ram Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Ram Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503303
    Abandoned
  53. Rifle
    Surface metal/non-metal · Mobile Premix Company · MSHA ID 0501352
    Abandoned
  54. RIFLE PIT
    Surface metal/non-metal · Roaring Fork Aggregates Inc · MSHA ID 0504465
    Abandoned
  55. Rifle Plant Or Rifle Mill
    Facility metal/non-metal · Umetco Minerals Corp · MSHA ID 0501784
    Abandoned
  56. Rifle Quarry
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Lien Company · MSHA ID 0504145
    Abandoned
  57. RUNYAN SAND & GRAVEL
    Surface metal/non-metal · Runyan Sand & Gravel · MSHA ID 0503580
    Abandoned
  58. Screen Plant #19030
    Surface metal/non-metal · Western Mobile/Mtn · MSHA ID 0501914
    Abandoned
  59. Sievers Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Western Sand & Gravel Company · MSHA ID 0504143
    Abandoned
  60. State'S Young Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · United Sand & Gravel Company Inc · MSHA ID 0504133
    Abandoned
  61. Sunlight
    Underground coal · Black Rock Mining Company Inc · MSHA ID 0500256
    Abandoned and Sealed
  62. Sunlight Refuse
    Facility coal · Mountain States Machinery & Supply Inc · MSHA ID 0503636
    Abandoned
  63. Una Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Corn Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503551
    Abandoned
  64. Union Carbide Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · Corn Construction Company · MSHA ID 0503880
    Abandoned
  65. Wash Plant #19027
    Surface metal/non-metal · Western Mobile/Mtn · MSHA ID 0503562
    Abandoned
  66. West Pit
    Surface metal/non-metal · White & Sons Construction Inc · MSHA ID 0503948
    Abandoned
  67. Young
    Surface metal/non-metal · Colorado Department Of Highways · MSHA ID 0503360
    Abandoned

Status and date are as reported to MSHA by the operator. Each mine's own page carries its accident, citation and inspection record.

By source vocabularythe publishers' own terms
Feature type Features
Prospect Pit 168
Adit 45
Gravel Pit 28
P2 Portals 20
P1 Underground Mine Fires 16
P3 Gobs 15
P2 Underground Mine Fires 12
Gravel Pit 9
Disturbed Surface 8
P2 Vertical Openings 8
Quarry 7
Mine Shaft 5
P1 Vertical Openings 5
P1 Portals 3
P1 Subsidence 3
Mine Dump 3
Gravel/Borrow Pit - Undifferentiated 2
Borrow Pit 2
P2 Surface Burning 2
Open Pit Mine 2
Tailings - Mill 1
P2 Subsidence 1
Open Pit Mine or Quarry 1
P1 Gases: Hazardous/Explosive 1
Air Shaft 1
Coal Mine 1
P3 Mine Opening 1
Other counties in ColoradoAll counties →
How to read these numbers

A USGS feature is a symbol on a historical topographic map, there when the map was surveyed; it may since have been sealed, reclaimed, built over or reopened as a working mine, and the map does not say which. An OSMRE row is a problem the abandoned mine land program tracks, not a mine. An MSHA mine is a registered operation whose operator reported abandonment, a record that starts in the 1970s. The three overlap and are never added together. The county is assigned from each feature's coordinates against the Census 2023 county boundaries. The full method is on the national page.

Sources
  1. USGS, Consolidated Prospect- and Mine-Related Features from 7.5- and 15-Minute Topographic Quadrangle Maps of the United States (USMIN)
    597,612 point and area features digitized from about 106,350 historical topographic maps published 1886–2006; public domain (CC0). A feature is a map symbol, not a field-verified site, and the map does not say whether it was still worked.
  2. USGS Fact Sheet 2025–3003, The Abandoned Mine Inventory of the United States
    States that as of 2025 there is no comprehensive national inventory of abandoned mine features, and that the detailed national database now being built will not be published.
  3. OSMRE, Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System (e-AMLIS), public Problems layer
    One row per abandoned mine land problem in a problem area, with its type, funding program and reclamation status; mostly coal mined before the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Coordinates are the problem area's.
  4. MSHA, Mines dataset (Mine Data Retrieval System)
    Every mine registered with MSHA since the 1970s; a mine reads Abandoned or Abandoned and Sealed when its operator reported that status. Refreshed weekly.
  5. US Census Bureau, 2023 cartographic county boundaries (1:500,000)
    Each feature's county is assigned by its coordinates against these boundaries, not copied from the source file.
  6. GAO-20-238, Abandoned Hardrock Mines (March 2020)
    Federal agencies had identified at least 140,000 abandoned hardrock mine features on federal land and estimated more than 390,000 more not yet captured in their databases.
  7. Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation (AHMR) Program, US Department of the Interior
    The program the USGS inventory is compiled for. Its appropriations and the 674,000 field-confirmed feature count on this page were provided by the program manager, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, and are cited with permission (2026-09-08).
  8. IMCC-NAAMLP Hardrock AML Report
    Page 48 carries the two figures this page leans on: USGS estimates 633,181 of the 725,690 mine features it recorded from historic topographic maps, 87 percent, are hardrock; and state and federal agencies have submitted more than 724,000 AML features to the national database being built, already more than the historic maps hold. Year-by-year AHMR funding is on page 35.