Dale Mining District

The Dale or Virginia Dale gold-mining district is in southern San Bernardino and northern Riverside County about 18 miles east of Twentynine Palms. It includes the area known as the Pinto Basin mining district. The first claims here were located in the early 1880s, and the district became productive in the 1890s. Moderate activity occurred during the early 1900s and 1920s, increasing in the 1930s and early 1940s when the Gold Crown, Supply, Virginia Dale and Carlyle mines were active. Little work has been done since then and very little remains. These photographs were taken in the 1970s and 1980s.