Sixmile Canyon Charcoal Ovens- Set 2
Nye County
Kilns at this site: (3). As of July 2017, all three kilns are fully collapsed.
I'm trying to find more history on the many groups of kilns that are scattered throughout the Hot Creek Mountain Range. These include Fourmile Canyon, multiple sets in Sixmile and Wood Canyons, and multiple sets in the Kiln Canyon area. They were supposedly built to supplement the kilns at Tybo. For now, I'm going to quote an article from the Eureka Sentinel dated September 2, 1877:
"On September 2, 1877 the Eureka Sentinel reported that “Henry Allen, the well-known contractor of Eureka, has just finished a work of considerable magnitude at Hot Creek. Last summer he was employed by Tybo Consolidated Co. to build 15 kilns in which the company proposed to burn the charcoal necessary to supply their furnaces at Tybo. He finished the work about a week ago, and some idea of its magnitude may be gathered from the fact that 600,000 bricks were used in building the kilns. “They are oval in shape, having a diameter of 25 feet. Each one has a capacity of 1400 bushels, turning out that quantity of coal to each charge, the operation consuming five days. A great economy of time results from these kilns, instead of burning in the old-fashioned way and as the company owns a vast quantity of wood in the immediate vicinity, they calculate on their fuel costing them about half of the usual rates. A force of twenty men was employed about three months in building the kilns.”
Last Trip/ Road Conditions: July 2017. There are three sets of kilns in Sixmile Canyon. The fourth set is up Wood Canyon, which is a branch canyon off of Sixmile Canyon. This place is a long way from any convenience. The road up Sixmile to these three sets has always been really good (weather permitting). The road up to the set in Wood Canyon is much rougher. All four sets are located a decent distance from each other. This is definitely a full day trip on its own.