The story behind the trail

Gold Hill is thought to be named for its mining past. In Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of New Mexico (1975),

it is recounted that the nearby town of Amizette experienced a brief population boom due to mining at Gold Hill. Authors James and Barbara Sherman say, “In the year 1897, a population of 200 was reported, as well as 10 producing mines with an estimated daily output of 600 tons of gold, silver, copper and lead ore ...” The authors say, “The gold was there – it was found and extracted.” However, the cost of transporting the ore from

the mountain was so expensive it caused many prospectors to go broke.

At the very top of Gold Hill, a mining pit is visible near the rock shelter. Today it protects hikers from the strong

wind that often blows on top. Other remnants of old mines are found on the Gold Hill Trail.

The peak also served as a fire lookout in the 1920s. A still-visible rock pile supported a telephone pole that

was used by national park rangers to call in reports of fires on a line that ran down Deer Creek and Columbine Canyon to the Moly Mine on the Questa side.