Trail Overview

This canyon is comprised of old mining roads that have seen decades of erosion. You start down at Packard Flat. This area has flour-fine dirt that will cover everything in dust. Proceeding to the top of the hill is Red Bird Mine. The road is cut narrow into the side mountain and has been eroded over the years. From the top of the hill, you will head down to the valley floor to check out more mines till you end at the main Coal Canyon Road.

Photos of South Relief Canyon

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Difficulty

The trail starts off with silty dust with the potential to bury yourself. It's a narrow road at the top of the hill that has been eroded over the years.

History

Many of the mines up on the hill were mining mercury. Most of the sites still have furnaces and retorts to capture the mercury. Cinnabar ore, cherry red to neon pink in color, is baked in the furnace to cook off the mercury which is then captured in gas form by a series of pipes where it condenses into liquid metal. The large open pit mines on the valley floor are iron mines.

Technical Rating

grizzly Paw

Sep 05, 2025

Open

so both ends have the gates locked which they'll not supposed to be able to restrict your access to BLM land. I went around but you could cut the locks and leave them or bring a lock and daisy chain it with your own. the fence at the gate only goes so far and the terrain isn't horrible.