An abandoned mine in South Dakota near the Black Hills.

Carved into a rugged slope of weathered schist and limestone, this small mine entrance sits near the historic mining corridors west of Custer, South Dakota — a remnant of the Black Hills’ 19th-century gold rush. The opening, likely hand-dug or expanded with early blasting techniques, leads into mineral-rich rock layers once prospected for gold, silver, and iron sulfides that fueled the regional boom of the 1870s. Surrounding the portal are piles of tailings and fractured quartz veins that reveal the area’s geologic complexity — part of an ancient mountain uplift more than 1.8 billion years old. Today, the forest has begun to reclaim the site, with pines and brush growing over the spoil heaps, blending traces of human industry back into the Black Hills landscape.

A long-forgotten mine entrance lies hidden in the forested slopes near the old gold mining town of Lead, South Dakota. The timber-framed portal, now partially collapsed and overtaken by vegetation, dates back to the late 19th or early 20th century—part of the Black Hills’ extensive network of small exploratory mines that sprang up after the 1876 gold rush. Streams like this one often run through or near these adits, carrying trace minerals that once drew prospectors to the region. Though many of these shafts were short-lived, they remain scattered reminders of South Dakota’s mining heritage and the rugged ambition that once fueled settlement in the Black Hills.