The Sumpter Gold Dredge is open in Sumpter Oregon May 1st-October 31st. The Gold Dredge Gift Store and Museum is open 9-5 every day during the season! Inside the giftstore visitors can enjoy an informative video about the history and operation of the gold dredge. Take a breathtaking walk around the dredge following our well groomed nature trails that wind throughout the state park. Come on in and see whats new! For more group tour information, please call  Be sure to stop in at the
Friends of The Dredge Gift Store and Museum! Nancy would love to meet you!  Workers Reunion to share with us? We would like to hear it! We love to hear from folks who have favorite stories about the Historic Sumpter Gold Dredge! We invite you to join discussions in our Forum Be sure to sign our guestbook
in the gift store when you visit!  We still have plenty of snow
at the Sumpter Gold Dredge! Bring your snowshoes for a great spring hike! Get an update on the latest snow and trail conditions at the sumpter trail report |
Hello Friends! We appreciate your visit today! replacement of the original tailings under the stacker arm and repair of the wench room is finally complete! The Dredge will soon be open for a new season on May 1st and visitors will be welcome to tour the lower level inside the gold Dredge once again. What else is new......? The Gold Dredge Gift Store and Museum has been remodeled to add a comfortable theatre where visitors can relax and watch an informative video about the history of the Gold Dredge. The video includes interviews with actual dredge workers. Visitors may also browse through some historic photographs and artifacts in the museum. Outside, the audio pedestals have been returned their normal places on the docks....... just push a button at each station to hear a little more about the Dredge. Park Trails...... Once you watch the video and take a walk inside the Gold Dredge, we recommend that you take the time to enjoy our well groomed walking trails throughout the Oregon State Park Heritage Area surrounding the Gold Dredge. These trails offer a variety of impressive views and different perspectives of the Gold Dredge from many areas of the State Park.
The History of Gold Dredges in Sumpter Oregon......
in a boom in gold mining and giving birth to our town of Sumpter. But it wasn't until much later that plans for a mechanized, floating, placer mining operation in the Sumpter Valley were made. Originally, there were two earlier Yuba-style dredges built in the valley dating back to 1912 when the first dredge was built and then its sister dredge being later constructed in 1915. The Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge may have come last but certainly was not least of the three! In 1934, the last gold dredge to be built was launched with almost as much fanfare as an ocean liner and carried with it a renewed hope for prosperity for the town of Sumpter. The last Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge actually inherited many of its parts from Dredge #2 and was a larger and improved model with a hull that spanned 125 feet long and was 52 feet wide. The third dredge boasted 72 buckets and could operate at a rate of 25 buckets per minute. Unfortunately, no matter how big or powerful the three dredges were, the reality was that more gold was taken from the Sumpter Mountains by hard rock miners deep underground than any of the three dredges. And, with the pressures of the economics of the times bearing down on the area, Sumpter's third and last Gold Dredge was forced to cease operations forever in 1954 where it sits today. However, despite a certain irriversable impact on the environment, and despite falling short of their intentions, Sumpter Valley Dredges carved out a proud heritage and gained an important place in Eastern Oregon Mining history. Friends, when you board the Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge you will no doubt leave the park with a sense of the heritage these machines have left us. And now........as the restoration process continues to evolve, The Friends of The Dredge, Inc. members are passionate in protecting, restoring and sharing our Gold Dredge with visitors from around the world! If you have never visited the Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge, we would like to invite you to come for a visit this summer and we will be more than happy to show you around! Whether you are a gold enthusiast or just enjoy exploring the history of our area, the Gold Dredge is a good place to begin your journey into Sumpter's golden heritage! So if you've got a few moments to spare today, we invite you to explore our website and join discussions about the Sumpter Gold Dredge in the forum. Be sure to let us know who you are as we like to get to know our Sumpter Gold Dredge visitors! Enjoy!  |
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Friends of the Sumpter Valley Dredge
P.O. Box 291 Sumpter, Oregon 97877 {541} 894-2472 |
