With the park closed, snow piling up, and no tours or grounds maintenance to be done things slow waaaayyyyyy down in the winter making this an excellent time to start sifting through notes from the previous season. The park staff have taken a lot of time to research and learn everything they can about mining techniques and the history of our Dredge and Sumpter, but there is always more to discover…and that’s one of the things that makes our job awesome!
So, in looking back over some of the most frequent questions from our visitors this summer, the research choices have been narrowed down to either delving into “the engineering and dynamics of steam power and its use on our dredge”, OR revealing “the fascinating science behind the mysteries of Mercury and how it was used in processing ore”.
Dueling Topics
After much deliberation “Mercury” won. There is a lot to cover, so we will be devoting the next several blog posts to this interesting element, its uses in mining, and its effects on the environment. Stay tuned over the next several weeks as we share our findings.
*Photo of Mercury courtesy of Wikimedia.
The Sumpter Valley Dredge 
sounds like an interesting topic…..look forward to it!
Looking forward to it