Archaeological Excavations to Take Place in Holcomb Valley’s Clapboard Town Mining Camp

An archaeological field study will be taking place in Holcomb Valley starting Monday, through a partnership with the San Bernardino National Forest and UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaelogy. During the five-week program (June 22 through July 24), students will be working with Forest Service archaeologists in Holcomb Valley, just north of Big Bear Lake, to perform archaeological survey and excavations; the field school will conduct National Register excavations at the 1860s mining camp of Clapboard Town. The mining camp is one of three once located in Holcomb Valley, the site of the richest gold strike in Southern California history and now a recreation and camping destination on the San Bernardino National Forest. The excavations, which the public is welcome to view, are located on the south side of Forest Service road 3N16, between 2N07 and 3N12.

Holcomb Valley, pictured here in May, was once the site of the richest gold strike in Southern California history.

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