Imagine hiking or biking through the desert or mountain area just to have the ground beneath your feet suddenly give way, sending you plummeting through a hole that could be a mile deep. That’s what could happen to you in California.
TikToker L.M. Riviere (@lmriverieauthor) is talking about the dark history of California’s abandoned gold mines. To this day, the California Gold Rush continues to affect people’s lives.
According to the Bureau of Land Management, the state of California has as many as 47,000 abandoned mines. Around 32,000 of them are located on federal land, like national and state parks.
Gold was discovered in California in 1848, when the total population in the area was approximately 160,000 people. Most of these people were Indigenous North Americans.
In 1850, California became a state, and its population doubled by 1855, bringing the numbers up to about 300,000. Half of them were gold miners working for wealthy investors and corporations seeking to set up mining operations.
Nowadays, there are still many abandoned mines that people might unknowingly come across. For example, Joshua Tree National Park has about 300 abandoned mines with more than 720 mine openings. Some of them are visible, but some are not.
The Mojave National Preserve warns that old mines can be unstable and contain bad air, poisonous gas, and hidden shafts. Furthermore, Death Valley National Park says that dangerous chemicals and toxic metals can linger in abandoned mines long after mining operations have ceased.
Since the mid-1970s, more than 40 accidental deaths have been documented in abandoned mines in California.
“You might think 40 [deaths] in about 50 years isn’t really that large a number, but it is pretty significant, especially when you consider that over 1,500 hikers have gone missing on California trails since 2013, trails that reside largely on federal land,” said L.M. Riviere.
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However, California is actively trying to solve the problem. The California Department of Conservation closed over 65 mines in 2019. Then, in 2024, Joshua Tree announced it had new funding that was being used to close more than a dozen mine openings.
It is worth noting that California is not the only state with this issue. Across the nation, about 381 people have been killed at abandoned mine sites from the year 2000 to 2013.
L.M. Riviere hopes to raise awareness of these potential hazards. In the comments section, some TikTok users shared their thoughts on abandoned mines.
“Tons of them here in Nevada, too. There’s a dangerous one on the hill right behind where I live,” commented one user.
“I pet sit and go hiking with the dogs all the time. New anxiety unlocked,” wrote another.
“The good news is that many of the abandoned mines now play important roles as animal habitats, if that helps you sleep any better,” added a third.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
