We've been to Rush Historic District a few times but haven’t
really ‘seen’ it. Years ago, we did the
short Interpretive Loop and drove down to the campground then over to the canoe
launch and that’s about it. The plan today
is to hike some of the many trails and really get an idea of what's here of
both historic interest and natural beauty.
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ore-cart along Rush Mtn. Trail
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From the Morning Star Mine parking lot, we walk across the road to
the ghost-town of Rush. The town
has four houses still standing, all on the same side of the street, and at the
west end of ‘town’ is the Taylor-Medley Store which also served as the Post
Office. The store is
looking pretty ‘sad’ like it could fall over any minute.
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in Rush ghost town
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Crossing the road, we head back to Morning Star Mine Trailhead, next
to where we’re parked and start in a clockwise direction around the Morning
Star Interpretive Loop. This easy trail
has loads of historic information posted almost continuously along the short
loop. It’s all very interesting and
provides a glimpse of what life was like for the miners back around the beginning
of the twentieth century.
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stone culvert under roadbed
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We enjoy the ruins, which
include the Smelter, remains of a hotel down in a grown over ravine, the Blacksmith Shop, what’s left of the Morning
Star Mill and much more. The Mill site
where the ore was processed is near the end of the Interpretive Loop, right
before the trail ends down the steps at the parking lot. |
Silver Smelter (never used)
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After exploring the Mill site, we backtrack up the trail maybe 100 feet to the intersection with Rush
Mountain Trail. Turning right (north), we climb the steep hill up to ‘Mine
Level’. The trail follows the roadbed of the narrow-gauge rail-line, Mules once pulled ore-carts from deep inside the mines, then along this roadway before dumping
the ore into chutes that took the rock down the
mountain to the Mill. Not much of this
‘infrastructure’ remains, but the roadway is a great place for a trail, as wide
as most old roads, and level easy hiking. |
ghost town in the distance
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The roadway passes by the entrances of many of mines, which are all ‘closed’ due to the danger of collapse and
also to protect the bats who have moved in. The heavy iron bars at the entrance to every
mine provide easy access for the bats but keeps people out. The trail follows the old roadway at mine
level for almost half a mile. Along the
way we see four or five mine entrances, at one where the mine has collapsed, we see some iron rail protruding through the rocks, and also
an old ore cart at the side of the roadway. |
Blacksmith Shop
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Once we are past the mines the trail gradually heads downhill and in
about a quarter mile we come to an intersection. The Rush Mountain Trail leaves the old road
and heads uphill to the left, we stay on the old road which curves around to
the right and downhill. Although real
easy hiking this isn’t actually a trail, we bushwhack down the old road
and in about 100 yards we’re on Rush Road. |
one of many sealed mines (typ.)
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We turn right walking back toward the car. The road follows Rush Creek on our left as we
head upstream, today the creek has flowing water and occasionally some scenic
placid pools. Just past a spot where the
creek curves to within a few feet of the road is a spring, this is Boiling
Spring which seems appropriate as water is ‘boiling’ up from the ground right
at the edge of Rush Creek.
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on a 'tailings' hill
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Across the
creek we can just make out some large stone piers hidden in the thick undergrowth; these are the ruins of the gristmill that pre-dates the zinc mining
boom. Under 200 yards from Boiling
Spring, on the right side of the road is an impressive stone wall, we leave the
road to investigate. |
Rush Creek near Boiling Spring
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We find the
remains of the Hicks Store and the home next-door; this was a big store for its
time, now consisting of concrete walls and floor. Little remains of the house next-door, just
some foundation stonework and steps, out back behind the store is evidence of
possibly a storage building. The best
part of the Hicks Store site is all the river rock ‘stonework’ around the
front yard to the house and extending beyond the store. Up the road about 0.3 miles is the Morning Star parking lot. |
Hicks Store
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We drive down the road passing the turnoff to Rush Campground on the
right, then as the road curves left is the canoe launch and two more
parking lots. Now the road gets narrow
and obviously less traveled, we keep going and come to a fourth parking area on
our right just before the road ends at two locked gates. Parking area 4 is on a leveled hill
overlooking the confluence of Clabber Creek with Buffalo River, we drop the tailgate and have some lunch while gazing out at the serene river just to the
south. |
rock borders around steps and flower beds
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From the parking area we head north, at the fork in the road are two locked gates almost side-by-side, we pass the left gate
staying on the ‘main’ road which is now Clabber Creek Trail. In 100 feet right next to the road was a
small home, probably a miner's ‘shack’ as little remains of any house or building, but someone obviously loved their garden, the
site has little stone lined walkways around numerous flower beds.
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stonework near Hicks Store
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On up the road another 100 yards we see an
old toolshed up on the hill about 100 feet from the trail, we continue north
and soon come to a fork in the road, we take the left and 100 yards around a
bend is another gate. Off to the right
between the road and Clabber Creek we see more concrete ruins, and off to the left what looks like the entrance to a small mine and
a little further another small mine shaft, these may have been abandoned due to
a lack of profitable ore samples. |
rusty equipment at Monte Cristo Mine
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Another 100 yards we come to a trail intersection, left off the road up
a steep bank is the Rush Mountain Trail.
Up the road we go staying on the Clabber Creek Trail we soon come to a
larger mine and some rusted machinery.
The ‘machinery’ appears to be a pump with electric motor attached, and
nearby a 10 or12 inch diameter steel pipe crosses the road.
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mineshaft?
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I’m going to speculate a little: maybe mine operators pumped water up from Clabber Creek and used pressurized water to loosen the rock? I don’t know… But just up
the road is the largest mine we have seen yet, with two or three shafts going
back into the depths of the mountain this was the Monte Cristo Mine. |
a shaft of the Monte Cristo
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Monte Cristo Mine is evidently where most visitors turn around, the
road/trail continues but obviously doesn’t see much traffic. We can still tell this was once a road but
it’s looking more and more like a muddy overgrown ‘trail’ as we continue on to
the next intersection, at which a sign implies this is the end of maintained trails, well
okay. The trail left going uphill is
called the Primitive Trail, we stay on what’s left of the old road
that curves to the right and downhill. |
camper in the woods
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We can tell this is an old road but now it’s pretty much a bushwhack through the woods, at another fork in the road, we take the left fork since
the right one is a little steep down a rutted muddy hillside. The left fork stays pretty flat and dry then
ends near an old, abandoned pop-up camper.
How long has this been here?
Maybe since before the creation of the Buffalo National River, or more likely we have wandered outside the park boundary.
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old road crossing Clabber Creek
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Anyway, it is a nice spot for a campsite, we
turn back and bushwhack diagonally downhill some towards Clabber Creek and come
out back on the old road below the mud and ruts. The road curves around to the south
alongside the creek and ends at the low bank.
Clabber Creek here is wide shallow and on bedrock, this was once the
ford where the road crossed the creek, but all we see on the other side is
thick saplings and even thicker ‘jungle’ with no ‘road’ in sight. |
scenic Clabber Creek
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We decide to turn around and head back the way we came, this time we
brave the ruts and mud by-passing the pop-up camper then uphill gradually to
the Monte Cristo Mine and easy hiking from there. In a quarter mile from Monte Cristo at that
other gate we’re looking down at the bluffs across Clabber Creek and notice
what appears to be another ‘ford’ crossing the creek and decide to go down and
investigate. |
top of Clabber Creek Hole
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This is where
the old road comes back to this side of the creek, with evidence of a washed
out low-water-bridge that included concrete culverts. Below the
bridge is a series of beautiful cascades and short waterfalls into a gorgeous
swimming hole under the towering bluff. At the downstream end of the swimming hole is a small cave in the bluff, and opposite the bluff on a gravel-bar is a nice campsite. This little spot under the bluff is a
‘natural paradise’, we kick back for a short break and soak in some of nature’s
splendor. |
bottom of Clabber Creek Hole
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Rather than going back to the
gate, we follow what appears to be another old road going south and in 100
yards are back on the Clabber Creek Trail. From here it’s just a quarter mile back to parking area 4. We truly had a great time
today, Rush Historic District is jam-packed with interesting sights. Today’s
hike was easy and included both the Rush Mountain area and Clabber Creek for a total of 4 miles with 300 feet of altitude gain.
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Clabber Creek gravel bar
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Rush Historic District: Statistics Chart 77 From the Highway 14 bridge over the
Buffalo River go north about 4.3 miles to the signed road north to Rush follow
this Rush Road (MC 6035) approximately 4.2 miles to the parking area at the
Morning Star Mine Interpretive Trailhead, MC 6035 is paved all the way to the
BNR border. Rush Road continues down to
the campground, canoe launch area and at least three more parking areas.  |
| base map before fair use alterations is property of ArcGIS--licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License |
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