The Carissa Mine’s gold haul in 1967 led to a gold rush in the area around South Pass City.

Photo courtesy Richard Brady

St. Andrews Episcopal Church still stands in Atlantic City.

Photo courtesy Richard Brady

The population of South Pass City has shrunk since its glory days.

Photo courtesy Richard Brady

A lovely South Pass City home is complete with a wrought iron fence.

Photo courtesy Richard Brady

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Recently I returned from a whirlwind photo trip to Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Dead Horse Point, and the new-to-me Goblin Valley State Park, all in Utah. I had been to Arches National Park many times over the years, I should think at least 10 times or more. It’s hard to not like shooting photos in Arches and if it is arches you are there to see, you have about 2,000 cataloged within the park to chose from. 

I’ll be picking out photos from those four places I visited for a story later on this year but the rambling on this time is about going up and over what is called South Pass, which I have done at least four or five times a year since 2003, driving to get somewhere I needed to be.  Going over the pass, which is roughly 7,550 feet and some say closer to 7,950 feet, on my way to Arches, I noticed that the yellow fall colors were starting to pop out and I thought to myself that maybe on the way back home, instead of just going up and over the pass as usual, I should think about going off road and see what I could find to shoot photos of.

Once you go off the main highway, you will be on all dirt rutted mining roads, which this time of year are completely dry and very dusty. I chose to go to South Pass City first, and as luck would have it, the town was celebrating some sort of function, so I was not able to do much there but take a few quick photos and leave. I will say that just before you descend down into town you will run across the Carissa Mine. The Carissa Mine had discovered good amounts of gold back in 1867, and once the word got out about the gold, thousands showed up with hopes of finding their share, which started the gold boom in the area. Eventually the mine played out and closed down in the 1870s. With new mining technologies and an influx of new money, the mine reopened in the 1900s for a time. It actually opened and reopened several times over the years, but finally closed for good in 1969 and the state acquired the property and buildings in 2003, and designated it a State Historic Site as you see it today.

In its gold boom hayday in 1869, South Pass City had roughly 3,000 people and was considered Wyoming’s second largest city. Today South Pass City is among Wyoming’s smallest continuously inhabited towns.

Atlantic City, founded in 1868 and one of three cities in the area, had a 10-year run of gold from 1868 through 1878 before the gold played out and most everyone left. In its day the town boasted of 2,000 miners, but after the boom, the town more or less became a ghost town, and eventually a place where part-time prospectors and vacationers came who wanted to try a little weekend prospecting. The town has had several booms and busts for more than 100 years, and it’s still considered a mining settlement to this day. It sits down in a gulch near South Pass, and is roughly 5 miles from South Pass City as the crow flies. Currently fewer than 57 year-round residents live in this over 150-year-old town.

The gold was discovered in 1867 in nearby Willow Creek, and soon after the Carisso Ledge was located, the Carrisa Mine began operations and was developed. This brought a huge volume of miners to the area, thus the three towns sprang up: South Pass City, Hamilton City  (that later had a name change and became known as Miner’s Delight) and Atlantic City.

Nothing much is left of the city of Miner’s Delight, but there are a few buildings to be seen in South Pass City. The largest today is Atlantic City with numerous buildings, some old and some newer too. I didn’t take the time to investigate lodging at either city but my guess is Atlantic City probably has guest rooms or cabins to rent. 

So if you ever feel the need to do some old fashioned gold prospecting you might look into a trip to Atlantic City. And yes, all the fall colors were out in abundance.