Three mines Zig Zag Trail

​On the east side of Lambert Park the prominent remains of 3 mines can be seen along the zig zag trail up East Mountain. The trail is a steep workout for hardy hikers and runners that peters off at the top of the hill. Very few know the real history of the mines.

The early settlers of Alpine steered away from mining, preferring to follow the advice of Brigham Young to develop industries and agriculture, but the draw of mining in the hills was hard to resist. As early as April 1872 the Deseret News noted that in Alpine, “although surrounded by mines the people are not neglecting the agriculture interests.” By 1891 the Alpine Mining District had been established, and over the next 40 years hundreds of mines were registered. Only one bore fruit: Fools Hill on Wordsworth Hill. It was incorporated in 1925 as the Wordsworth Hill Mining Company and produced some small rich pockets of zinc and lead, but eventually closed down as it was too expensive to operate.

Three Mines Zig Zag Trail on East Mountain

Three Mines Trail

The three mines on East Mountain are actually four entrances to the Midnight Bell mine dug by Walt Higgs and Jack Curzan. According to The Mining World, published in 1907, The Midnight Bell Mining company was reported to have made a good strike, having tunneled about 200 feet and had discovered several deposits of lead-silver ore, but not in commercial quantities. Due to continued cave-ins the mine was abandoned but later taken up again by Sam Warner and Lon Billings in 1928. They also abandoned the idea after concluding that it was too dangerous to work.
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The fourth mine cannot be seen on the east side of the mountain, but is on the top of the hill facing south. One Alpine resident visited it as a young girl on horseback, against the advice of her father, and found a nest of rattlesnakes had taken over. Visit it at your own risk!