Cave Lake and the Charcoal Kilns

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Cave Lake State Park is just a few miles east of Ely. We stopped here, at Elk Flat campground, in the past (see that post) and had a good experience so decided on a repeat visit. We like Elk Flat campground, as the spaces are widely separated with the juniper trees providing considerable privacy. Ely is close enough to run in for groceries and other necessities which is nice if staying for several days.

Thursday was the day for exploring. We took hwy.50 (hwy.6) north just a few miles to the turnoff for the Ward charcoal kilns historic site. 

Cave Valley Road leads to the kilns, where you turn off at the sign for the Willow Creek Trading Post.

You'll find charcoal kilns like these at many locations throughout the west, as in pioneer times charcoal was an important fuel used in mining and metallurgy industries. 

The process was long and complicated, involving 35 cords of wood cooked through a special process for 13 days for each batch produced. 

The active mining area here required so much charcoal the surrounding hillsides were almost completely stripped of trees by the time the mines petered out.

These particular kilns have weathered the years quite gracefully, perhaps because of their remote location and the generally dry weather. 

Now, with desert shrubs softening their edges and colorful lichens growing on the stone blocks, they are interesting relics of a time long past. The skill in stone masonry required to build the kilns is to be admired.  

Willow Creek runs past the kilns, and though the area is largely sagebrush, the creek itself is lush with grasses, mint and pennyroyal, which sent of a wonderful aroma when Shiner went down to check out the fresh water gurgling under the little footbridge.

If you're looking for an out-of-the-way place to camp, Willow Creek campground, near the kilns, is attractive, with generous sites and thick stands of juniper and pines between them. And it was completely unoccupied! 

Each site has a covered picnic table, and there’s a smallish group site available. There’s also a picnic area halfway between the kilns and the campground with two tables and restrooms. 

Leaving the kilns we backtracked to the Ward Mining District turnoff. As the term "district" indicates there were, and are, several mines here. Some are still in operation and not open for exploration. The actual Ward town site is at the upper end of the road, past the cemetery.

The Ward Cemetery is an interesting place to explore. An information sign board at the entrance tells the history of several of the individuals and families buried there. Several ornate markers still stand, a few plots are set apart with wrought iron fences, but most of the graves are protected with simple wooden fences. Many are unmarked now, the names and dates lost to time and weather. 

There isn’t much left of the town now but a few stone foundations, though more can be seen if you hike out among the sagebrush. As the temperature was dropping rapidly and we were being pelted with icy raindrops we passed up that opportunity in favor of continuing our tour on the road. 


At the end of the road there's the remains of a mining operation and a few metal structures surrounded by colorful piles of tailings.

We returned to our campsite by the alternate route, taking the cutoff east from the charcoal ovens site back to hwy 50 (this would be the southern entrance to the kilns from hwy 50). This road is shorter (3 miles less of gravel) and with less noticeable washboards than the northern route. If towing a trailer in to the campground at the kilns we’d definitely recommend this route. 

Elk Flat is definitely a dog-friendly place to stay. Surrounded by wide-open spaces there are opportunities for hiking in all directions. Shiner and I headed for a nearby ridge for this view of the campground.

Our campsite as seen from a ridge to the NW of the campground

Elk Flat campground is situated high up on a ridge so there are nice vistas from several of the sites. Many of the sites will accommodate our length so it's easy to find a space, and there’s a restroom with showers, as well as an RV dump.

Cave Lake

The Lake View campground, higher up, is nice, but steeper, tighter and designed more for fishing and boating visitors.There's usually more traffic there, which means more dust too. The sites are higher up than the lake, affording a nice view from many of them. 

All things considered, this is a nice state park for those who like to hike (there are several trails) fish, boat, or just relax!

Cave Lake State Park and environs album here.