Gypsy Copper Camp

The Gypsy Copper Mining Camp history dates back to 1895 when several men from Colville, Washington made lode claims on nearby areas. The site's original powder house dates to 1895, with the cabin, a bunkhouse, and blacksmith shop following in 1901. The blacksmith shop and bunkhouse are now gone, but due to recent Passports in Time projects on the Colville National Forest, the powder house and cabin are undergoing restoration work.

At the time the mining camp was established, no roads existed in the area. According to signage at this historic site, the miners would spend each summer from the late 1800s into the early 1900s at the camp. This required swimming their horses across the Pend Oreille River at Ione, then travel on horseback to Sullivan Lake where they would use rafts to move their equipment to the north end of the lake (with the horses required to swim alongside the rafts) before traveling by trail along Sullivan Creek to the site of the camp. When the Metaline Falls flume trail was constructed in 1910 they were able to use that route instead. 

Today's visitors can drive up Sullivan Creek Road to a pull-off near the Gypsy Copper Mining Camp, and then hike a short distance on a gated Forest Service Road to the restored powder house and cabin. The site is open to hike in day-use only.