Elkhorn Scenic Byway
Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge, OR

The dredge looks like the ghost of a mammoth and strange boat house. Built in 1935, the Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge mined $4.5 million in gold until it stopped 11 years later. During those years, the dredge worked 24 hours a day, in all kinds of weather. It only stopped on Christmas and Independence Days.

The dredge has moved 2 miles from the place it was built-dredges work by moving along as they extract gold. The dredge is being restored in stages. Right now, there are wooden walkways to go out to the dredge (it stands in a pond) and a few interpretive signs. There is even a button you can push to hear a recording of a worker telling stories about the dredge over the roar of the machine in operation.