El Paso Tin Mines Hike

I LOVE this hiking trail. I take my friends whenever they come visit because I this it's a pretty unique place. You can see the history of El Paso. You can park your car at Chuck Heinrich park when you go hike. I like to take the longer route on the way to the mine rather than following the trail up and down because the trail is a little boring. I usually do like 6-7 miles round trip. I did see a huge snake on the trail last time I went there. He crossed RIGHT in front of me that I almost stepped on it. So be careful when you walk.

I've known about this hike for some time now, but it was just never in the cards for me so I made it my mission to host a Yelp hike here for Yelp's Fit Club and it was one of the best hikes I've done in El Paso.With the exception of the few trails over at McKelligon Canyon, I'm really not familiar with the trails in the Northeast. This trail picks up at the Chuck Heinrich Park, the trailhead is at the end of the parking lot where the posts are, but I'm not actually sure what this trailhead is called... we'll just call it the Chuck Heinrich Trailhead.We were lucky enough to have Rey D.'s two sons with us who had both been out to the Tin Mines so they were able to expertly lead us to the mines without adding an additional 1-2 mile "I'm lost" hike. There were a few signs out there, but nothing I saw with actual arrows... just signs telling you what trail you were on so if you get to far off the right trail, eventually you'd figure it out. From the Chuck Heinrich Trailhead, the mines are up in the mountains and to your right. While walking if you can see a large metal grate in the distance just keep heading that way.The hike up isn't too strenuous, but it is basically all up hill. The last 200 meters to the mines is the only part I was actually breathing hard for. The El Paso Puzzler was passing through while we were on the trail and with the exception of those cyclists, it wasn't really heavily trafficked. These trails are pretty dog friendly, but depending on the distance and how tough your pup's paws are you may want to invest in some Musher's Secret (we found out about this on the trek down).The mines themselves are really cool and the view from them is amazing! So there's the upper and lower mines. There is a little bit of graffiti among the two mines (the lower I only saw graffiti on the door) which makes you wonder, what kind of delinquents spent the time hiking 3 miles just to tag these mines?The upper mines are underneath the big metal grate. This one doesn't go as far back as the others, but I did a little research online and found out somewhere further up there is a second entrance to the upper mines that goes much further. We didn't find the second entrance to the upper, but from that research it's not really clear to me if the second entrance is like the others where you can just walk in or if it's more of a climb down. All in all, the upper mines are pretty cool because you have a lot of light to see your surroundings.The lower mines are a few steps below the metal grate. You'll see wood placed in the perfect step formation and as soon as you get to the bottom there is a short door to your immediate right. The door made it look like a crawl space to me, but once you actually get inside it's more of a "crouch space". The lower mines were my favorite because you can go a lot further. There are also a few actual crawl spaces in these mines so if you're feeling brave, that may be for you. While we were down there we did see a baby bat (still wondering where it's mama was and the rest of it's family) and Rey's sons said they had seen mice down there once so be prepared to see some small wildlife... and be realistic that there could also be large wildlife down there too.Take flashlights and don't just depend on your phone flashlight because it's really not as bright as you'd like once you're in complete darkness. While we were down there I kept thinking, why didn't I bring my headlamp. It's dark and cold so maybe bring a long sleeve shirt if you're planning on doing a ton of exploring while in the mines. I would say the hike up is beginner, but keep in mind it's about 3 miles out there so do the pace you're comfortable with. Great hike for anyone that wants to see do something unique and see a part of El Paso's history.

The Tin Mines Hike its a fun yet but challenging hike. The best way to start this hike is by parking at the Chick Heinrich Park and start from there. Bring cash to pay the state park fee $7 per person. The hike consists of loose rocks and unclear signs on how to get there. Bring your own map, or look the Horizon til you see some type of rusty metal grates at the skirts of the mountain walk towards it following the trail. My experience is that tennis shoes work better than hiking boots for this hike. The tin mines have two entrances, one allows you to go to the bottom part of the mines and the other entrance allows to see the top part. The mines are only open certain days certain times but they are always open for the most part. Its cool and dark in there. Bring water and food its nice to have a snack before heading back. Going to the mines and back to Chuck Heinrich park its approximately 7.5 miles.

The Franklin Mountains is always a great place to go hiking. 1st time hiking out to the Tin Mines and was definitely not disappointed. Recommend it if you're looking to get a good hike in for the day.

You can't go into the mines! But you can look at them and hike all around! Moderate difficulty depending on which side of the mountain you start off on. We hike it often on our way to the peak from Chuck Hendrick Park.

Not recommended for little kids but bring plenty of water since it's not a short hike. I found two entrances to the mine also bring a flashlight

Great trail for any ability. Steady incline throughout. Depending on your pace, it takes about 2-3 hours to the mine and back. Nothing too spectacular but good for biking and hiking as well as dogs. Lots of side trails as well.

I went on this trail twice before I had a friend help me find the tin mines. The trail is not marked super obvious. There's no shade, so make sure you go in morning or evening time. I'd recommend wearing hiking shoes because there are a lot of rocky parts. It's a fun hike! The tin mines are not monumental, but it's something to say that you did!

One of my favorite hikes in El Paso, about 6 miles round trip, it's a great workout. Make sure you have a flashlight if you plan on going inside the tin mines.