Richmond Basin

Trail Overview

The Richmond Basin is a large area with a long history of mining for Zinc, Silver, Lead, and Gold. This Jeep trail will take you on a loop through the heart of the area. The eroded hill climbing up into the basin is usually the most difficult part of the trip and can change depending on erosion and the amount of traffic since the last significant erosion. The mines on the south end of this loop (Silver Nugget) and the ones on the north end (Richmond Basin) be reached on 2.0 roads if you want to do in-and-out trips. The road into Richmond Basin from Highway 88 has a spur to the north with nice views of Four Peaks and Roosevelt Lake. The loop on this site takes you from one to the other, south to north, without returning to the highway. The connection is remote, somewhat scratchy, and is not for the faint of heart. The eroded climb up to Richmond Basin is rated 3.0, and Nugget Wash can be quite difficult depending on recent erosion. A GREAT trail for the right vehicles. The trail stays at the bottom of Nugget Wash for about 1.5 miles, then climbs up to the higher ground. The section in the wash can vary dramatically from year to year depending on rainfall. Beginning this run on the south gives you the opportunity to turn around if the difficulty is too great.

Photos of Richmond Basin

Want to see more?

Login

Difficulty

We ran it South to the North, through the wash of rocks, and the climb out of the wash. Two of the seven had to be winched up. When we got to the North end where the concrete foundation is, the trail has really washed out. Ruts deep enough that I was up to my windows in the rut. Had to put rocks in one location to bridge a rut. All said we all made it and had a lot of fun. Lockers were needed. We did not see any sign of tracks after the rains.

Technical Rating