Each man took a bar, and a despicable pair named Dutch John and Little Dave hid out at Granite Gap. While Dutch John slept, Little Dave decapitated him with an axe, then buried both bars beneath the trail near town. Later, after moving to Oklahoma, Little Dave returned to recover the bars, but the road had washed out and everything looked different. All this loot leaves the grounds at a relatively low price. While Laura and Mike lay strict claim to all mining objects found by visitors, they do allow each person to keep ten pounds of specimens free of charge.
Children love taking frontier-style donkey rides.
Laura displays her rattlesnake skins After a hard day of exploring, visitors can camp in mountainside caves that once were home to miners. There is space for dry R.V. camping, and backpack camping is allowed anywhere on the grounds - even on top of Granite Gap Mountain. Sean DeMarco inspects the cattle carcass Photos by Carla DeMarco Not to worry about snakes in caves, says Laura. And Heidi and Soapy, Granite Gap's resident guard dogs and fall guys, precede people, scouting for such undesirables as the the kind of cats you wouldn't call kitty. Laura says she's spent many memorable moments in the caves, but her favorite experience was when, sitting by the entrance to Windlass Tunnel, she witnessed a hawk swoop down, grab a five-foot rattle snake, and struggle to take flight.