River Mountains Loop Trail

“End of the Trail” Planning Committee Formed

August 24, 2009 – The title is correct the “End of the Trail” building is in sight.  After eleven years and soon to be twelve years of planning, design, funding and construction the River Mountains Loop Trail will be complete.  All 34.5 +/- miles of it.  The partnership has established a committee to plan the “End of The Trail” event.  We want to share the trail experience with everyone in Las Vegas;  in Nevada; and in the good ole’ USA….so we are planning a party on the trail.  There will be trail rides, hikes, walks, bike rides, runs, crawls, jogs, marathons, bady buggie walks, 5-k & 10-k events, trail booths, speeches, awards, entertainment, food and drink etc. etc.

 WHERE: Current plans call for the upper parking lot and trail head at Railroad Pass Hotel & Casino.We held a National Trails Day event here in 2005 and it worked out really well. The location is on the River Mountains Loop Trail which allows for on trail activities to begin and end or conlcude at this location.
End of The Trail logo -Indian

End of The Trail logo -Indian

 

 

 

WHEN: We are planning around October 9th, 2010  – (13-months  &  2-weeks from now.)Why so far out? First we have to allow enough time to finish the last section of trail; secondly it will take some time to pull all the VIP’s together, and arrange enough sponsors. Thirdly, we have decided to hold the event in partnership with Henderson’s Annual celebration of National Trails Day in 2010.

TIME:  TBD …some events like a full 34.5-mile bike ride will start early; other events will have staggered start times depending on length  and distance; the exhibits, booth and food service will most like start mid-morning and remain open until speeches and awards are concluded around 1:00 p.m. when the party really starts….

 IS THIS THE END OF THE TRAIL FOR THE TRAIL PARTNERSHIP?  No..No… there is still much to do.  The partner agencies already have enhancement and safety projects in planning to make the trail a safer outing plus enhance the educational experience.  We are also looking for additional connectivity opportunities and have had discussions about possibly  developing secondary trails.

“End of The Trail” Logo– The world famous sculpture done by James Earle Frasier for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco,Ca. has many meaning to very one who observes it.  It turns out that Frasier did not have an interpretation of his own.  I’ve choosen the famous statue to represent the long trail we have come as a partnership and the humble experience we have all shared to see it through to completion.  What does the statue mean to you?? 

Three Kids Mine site along Trail

Jan.29th, 2009   Three Kids Mine is part of Southern Nevada’s mining history. It is locate near Lake Las Vegas at trail mile marker 9.0 to 10.5.  There are several deep open pit mines where manganese ore was mined then processed in a mill on site. Mining was activity from around 1917 until the plant was closed in 1961. The site has sat idle for 48 years. It was used in two movies over the years and has been an eyesore for most of the 48-yrs.  Plans are now afoot to clean up the area and turn it into a master planned development of some 1250+ acres.  The development is currently known as “Lakemoor Canyons”.  The project is in the planning, review, approval stage and will require many permits. The actual clean up of the site is about 12 months out if all goes well.

Three kids mine unger/RJ photo

Three kids Mine Unger/RJ photo

History:

The following is an except out of the Review Journal dated May 12, 2005. The article is written by A.D. Hopkins and talks about the Merle Frehner family history….
During World War I the Three Kids Mine, the remains of which are visible southeast of Sunrise Mountain, was producing manganese ore. Harry (Frehner) hauled the ore to the Las Vegas rail yards behind a 10-horse team pulling three heavy-duty freight wagons and a feed cart, hooked one behind the other. “When reaching the east end of Fremont Street, Harry drove straight up the center to the depot, then south to an unloading platform. Crowds of people would line the sidewalks to watch the long outfit go up the street.”  This would have been between 1914 and 1918.

 
 
 

Three Kids mine site today RJ Photo 11-08-09

The following notes and statements come from an article printed in the “MINING CONGRESS JOURNAL dated October 1944….”The three Kids Mine near Las Vegas, owned by the Manganese Ore Company, wholly-owned subsidiary of The M.A. Hanna Company, has proved to be the largest open pit deposit of good grade manganese ore available in America, Vice President M.C. Lake of the ore company said in a recent statement.”

The millling plant next to the mine was owned and operated by the Defense Plant Corporation and as of this writing had produced several thousand tons of high grade manganese nodules. The plant had not yet reached full production according to the article.

Other items of interest from the article are: 1.) Part of the process involved leaching a processing pulp …”in a series of seven thickeners, the first two of which are acid-proof construction and 250 feet in diameter, thus making them the largest acid-proof thickeners ever constructed.” 2.)The “manganese sulphate salt which is roasted in a rotary kiln 360-ft. long and 11ft 3 inches in diameter, to yield a calcine of Manganese oxide and sulpher dioxide gas.”
The article from the Mining Congress Journal also had multiple photos of operations at the mine….Steam shovel loading dump trucks;beginning of the open pit mine operation; Drilling being done by churn drills and rock drills; mining pit with stock piles of ore and mill.

Movies:
Do you know the names of the two Hollywood Movie productions that took place at Three Kids Mine????

The first one I’m still researching. It was filmed after 1961 and involved the blowing up of the mill/plant during filming. I’m told it was in the early 1970’s? Does anyone know…please help me out.

The second film/movie was released February 5, 1987. It was shot entirely on location in southern Nevada. A major battle scene and shoot out occured at the Three Kids Mine site. The name of the movie is “CHERRY 2000” – a 1987 science fiction cult film starring Melanie Griffith and David Andrews. My personal review of movie would make it a “B” movie, acting was not so hot, plot was ?; but the scenery of Southern Nevada was great. The Three Kids Mine shots show some of the remaining structures from the mining days. The big 250-ft concrete thickeners look like alien structures in the film. The movie pops up every now and again on HBO, don’t waste your money renting a DVD.

 
 
 
 
 

Cherry 2000 Movie Poster 1987

Cherry 2000 Movie Poster 1987

The River Mountains Loop Trail:

The trail will front the Three Kids Mine site along the south side of Lake Mead Parkway from the tunnel underpass east to the commercial buildings. At this location the trail will cross to the north side via a tunnel and then follow the BMI waterline right-of-way east for about one mile. The trail will pass under Lake Mead Parkway at the far eastern edge of the Lake moor Canyons development.  This trail alignment is currently under design. We expect completion by end of 2009 2010.

THREE KIDS MINE PHOTO GALLERY:

 
 

 

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