Mastadon Mine Trail                                                   

See granites and evidence for younger faulting

Map Cottonwood Springs 7.5'

Trail Length 2 miles, ~1 hour

Elevation Change +350 feet

Difficulty easy

Directions Trailhead at the end of Cottonwood Springs Road, 1.2 miles from intersection with Pinto Basin Road

Description The trail begins at Cottonwood Springs, in a Jurassic biotite granite. At the trailhead, take a minute to look at the small hill northeast of the parking area. As the trail climbs out of the wash and toward the Eagle Mountains, note the abundant fractures in the granite. These fractures record faulting of the granite at some time in the recent past. At about 0.6 miles, the trail splits; follow the left fork toward Mastadon Peak. The trail straight ahead leads down to the Lost Palms Oasis. As you approach the the peak and the nearby Mastadon Mine, note the very fine-grained, northwest-trending, dark-colored diorite dike intruding the granite at the base of the peak. The Mastadon Mine explored for gold along a northeast-dipping quartz vein cutting the granite very near to where it was intruded by the dark-colored dike. Return to the trailhead the same way you came, or you can continue west along the trail to the Cottonwood Springs campground.

Touch an image to learn more about rocks and geology along this trail.