Kiln Canyon Charcoal Ovens- Set 1

Nye County

Kilns at this site: (2). As of July 2019, there are two kilns fully standing. There are two more kilns approximately one-mile due north on the other side of the mountain. My understanding is that you can't drive any vehicle to them anymore. It looks like it would be a serious hike. There are also three more kilns about 1 1/2 miles due south on a very bad road. I don't know the status on any of these five kilns. As of May 2024, both kilns are still standing.

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 2019 and May 2024. I didn't get to make this trip. The guy who is helping me with this website did. These two kilns are located on the old Tybo to Belmont Road. This road is NOT for the amateur. The guy who provided these pictures is a very good off-road operator on quads and side-by-sides. He's better than me and I'm pretty good. They took side-by-sides. He said that they hit a couple of 'Oh Sh*t' spots. I will also laugh and say that he should have done a way better job on the picture taking! Five total photos of a place this cool and remote is unacceptable! Haha.