Brandy City Pond Trail

Description:

• Brandy City Pond Tail is an easy 1 mile trail at an elevation of 3,600 feet. This trail is level and travels around the pond. The pond is located in a historic hydraulic mining pit. This type of mining involves a series of ditches, canals, and canvas hose and a large nozzle, known as a monitor or water cannon, used to direct water under pressure to wash away the hillside into a sluice box. A sluice box is a series of riffles designed to trap heavy materials such as gold and release the lighter material to flow into the drainage's creating problems in the valleys below. It was declared illegal to release trailing into the drainage's in 1884, making this type of mining unprofitable.