Catskill Collecting

It is very easy to find,unlike others in the area. From Route 209 in the town of Ellenville, turn on State Route 52 (southbound) to Berme Road (last street in town, at the base of the Shawangunks), turn left on Berme road (northbound, old D & H canal will be on your left), go past the firehouse, Nature Conservancy parking area and playground. Look for a tall brick smoke stack and an old bottleing plant / warehouse on the right. Park on the north side of the warehouse. Follow the well-worn path that veers right, towards the cliff face or follow the stream to the entrance of the mine.

Does anyone know exactly where the Ellenville/ Shawangunk Mine (entrance allegedly sealed) further up Route 52 on Plank road is? (not the well known one in Wurtsboro over the airport)
or any other mines in the Shawangunks?

I have been all over the Old Plak Road (both sections, paved and dirt all the way to the end at the top of the mountain) by car and by foot several times, and have never been able to locate the "sealed" mine entrance. I have no idea where it is along that road....I'm thinking maybe on the mountainside below Old Plank, where it can't be easily seen???

Hey Guys, I have documented with photos the sun ray mine tunnel. You can see them here at [www.abandonedmines.net]

or www . abandonedmines . net

The sealed mine is behind the dpw? building before the berme rd park. There is a large pile of wood chips 15 ft in front of where the entrance used to be . However, it looks like there may be another entrance/airshaft above the sealed one. the rock was too slippery and I had no rope to get to it. I will make the attempt again and post my findings.

i waas up there yesterday with my kids. we found some small clusters and a bunch of small points loose ...a little pyrite with i guess lead on it. all and all a fun trip. nothing too crazy.....broke my hammer after a few hours. that is defintitly some hard rock. . fun day though.

I'm a budding rock collector. As a child, I collected rocks quite often out of simple unguided interest.

Now some 20 years have past and slowly I'm collecting again, using only visual cues as to what stone I take home or not. Meaning, its purely art to me. I know nothing of the mineral makeup of each stone. In the past few years, I have collected hundreds of stones and given them all away, but for a few that linger .

Please include me in any rock collecting trips. I would love to accompany anyone, and share with others what I am learning as I collect occasionally.

Using Google Earth (something I am new to), perhaps I can share exactly what I find within 10 miles of my location (Wurtsboro) along the Shawangunk Mountain Ridge. If anyone on this thread needs some hiking to be done, I wouldnt mind being their helper and share exactly what was seen and where. Since I live right smack in the middle of this thread's location, this is a great introduction for local mineral collecting.

Thank you
Richard Morris F

Formerly of Westchester/Putnam County.

Now residing in Wurtsboro on Sullivan Street for the past year.


Oh ! This year I found what may be Honeycomb Coral in Mamakating/ Wurtsboro with an assortment of other large shelled fossils in the same rock.
Richard Morris F.

Hello Richard and all Catskill Collectors! I have a hunch your correct about the Honey Comb coral up on the ridge. I made a recent discovery on Sullivan St of all places, you know the old Methodist church (116 Sullivan St ) across from the Canal Town Emporium (with the trippy tin interior) has been converted into a Rock shop!? They actually have some really nice stuff in there and some local representators from old miners collections. The Lapidary guy there said they would be having hikes to some of these localities in the better months. Sounds like fun!!

I was recently told about the #2 acqueduct rock dump off Cutler Rd. in Wawarsing, just outside of Ellenville
. Has anyone else visited the site? Recently? Is it still accessible to collect from? Is it worth the trip?

minerals are not to be taken from public land,it's been a law since then late 19 century when they thought there might be gold in the state,there has been gold found in new york but not much,ulster county gold has been found on the illinois mountain in highland

Hey Jeremy
Where are you dude?It is spring we need to get together for some collecting.Contact me soon
Your pal Steve C.

Hi can you tell me were emporium would be i am coming in from northern New Jersey i would like to take a little look at that rock shop thanks.

Hi Greg,

I used to live in Kerhonkson and I have heard tales similar to what you describe. I am friends with an historian of Ulster county who has always been intereted in the old Ellenville mines. I will let you know what he tells me.

I currently live in arizona, but I am coming home to visit Kerhonkson in June, are you interested in meeting up and showing me your finds?

Cheers.
Ian Merkel

I have visited the lower tailings at the Wurtsboro lead mine site recently, once with the Orange County Ny Club, once by myself. I just wanted to say that with a little effort, you can still find some wonderful galena, pyrite and chalcopyrite specimens right in the tailings pile. When I went the second time solo, I found even better crystals of all 3 at the bottom of the pile just by digging in a foot or two at the base of the tailings. It's definitely a nice place to bring the kids as all of the walking is 100% flat, no hills.

hi roger came across this link - have just got a copy of first album a real memory jerker from the days when we were both struggling to make a buck here & there working at pos the worst job i ever had in a department store in dear old blighty ,up until about ten years ago i was living in canada & the states for 6 years where i was playing with a number of bands playing throughout canada as well as gigs in upstate ny chicago detroit tv work & radio etc, but returned to the uk a while ago now when i was offered a good deal over here (hard to believe there could be any good deals in the uk i know but this time it was pretty good ..two dozen albums & a lifetime on (30 years since we last saw each other), it was great for me to hear these tunes again
anyway i hope you dont mind me contacting you this way
stay cool
tony
you tube - tony farinha

hi roger came across this link - have just got a copy of first album a real memory jerker from the days when we were both struggling to make a buck here & there working at pos the worst job i ever had in a department store in dear old blighty ,up until about ten years ago i was living in canada & the states for 6 years where i was playing with a number of bands playing throughout canada as well as gigs in upstate ny chicago detroit tv work & radio etc, but returned to the uk a while ago now when i was offered a good deal over here (hard to believe there could be any good deals in the uk i know but this time it was pretty good ..two dozen albums & a lifetime on (30 years since we last saw each other), it was great for me to hear these tunes again
anyway i hope you dont mind me contacting you this way
stay cool
tony
you tube - tony farinha

I recently moved back to NY from california. I am finding it nearly impossible to find any good information about any of these mines in the ellenville area. if anyone can point me in the right direction for the red bridge mine, or better yet the buttermilk falls mine that would be awesome!

Sound like a area worth exploring. And in the winter months no ticks! I visit NJ a few time a year. ( I was born in Passaic NJ). So if you are interested in a parrtner I am a field collector that likes ot dig and do photography.

you can email me if interested: Fred: fasteel7@hotmail.com

Only a handful of people know the exact locations of all the old Lead/Zinc mines in the shawangunks.

My name is Dan and I run www.abandonedmines.net

In 2008 a group of 6 of us scoured the west mountainside of the shawangunks in search of these mines. We found over 20 of them. From South to north, the mines are as follows:

Guymard Mine
Wallkill Lead Mine
Empire Mine
Washington Mine
2 mines on prison property (state and fed prisons)
Shawangunk Lead Mine (also known as St. Nicholas Zinc, Wurtsboro, and the Mamakating Mine)
Redbridge Mine
Buttermilk falls/Horseshoe Mine
Ellenville Mine
Sunray Tunnel Explorations.

We were able to enter many of these mines, some that have been entered before, some that weren't seen in over a century.

Regards,

Dan

Hi greg i was just reading your message would you be interested in giong collecting with me and a friend of mine to that area you were talking about in the spring i be long to the north jersey mineral club and would like to explore the area for that mother load i no your message was posted a while ago but let me no we could even threw some money to you for you taking us their let me no Bob.

Hello, Sorry I have not been back here in so long a time but I have been still finding some great crystals all over the Ellenville Mountain. I even found a whole area of cliff covered in small crystals but hidden from the eye do to thick moss growing over the area. This is great because if it was not for the moss these crystals would have been picked off years ago. The great thing about this is that it is on my property, what a treat! I still look forward for the heavy rains as they always leave behind some great crystal finds. I can not wait for spring to discover many more giant crystals, I no longer listen to people saying this area has been picked clean. I would love to share what I have found with someone who has something to share with me . I still believe there is that mother load just waiting for me to find. How can I hook up with interested parties willing to explore a few areas I know will produce? I still have not been able to get inside the cave that was covered by the state years ago but I still find clusters around what I believe is the opening of the cave. There is a really big rock sitting in the opening of the cave which needs a few strong hands and maybe a block and tackel to more the rock then ,,well you can go home now, this is mine! LOL I have heard stories about this cave and seen the crystals that came out of it, I spent 25 years searching and now , I am sure it is the one.