Rainbow Basin Lava Tubes
Google Earth
The Lava Tubes at Mojave National Preserve are featured in the Cima Dome Volcanic Field. A short, rocky hiking trail leads from a primitive parking area, to a skylight in the tube, where a ladder leads hikers into the lava tube. The Forgotten Gold Rivers: Ancient Waterways’ Hidden Treasures. Volcanic activity: Rapid burial under lava flows, as seen in California's Table Mountain basalts can perfectly preserve channel morphology and gold deposits. https://discoveryalert.com.au/news/forgotten-gold-rivers-ancient-waterways-treasures-2025/
Rainbow Wells Plat Map
Historically, exploration and extraction of minerals was long one of the top industries in the Mojave desert. The region was geologically very active, which increased the number and variety of minerals deposited in the rock, and lack of obscuring plant cover made mineral deposits easier for prospectors to locate.
Rainbow Wells Plat Map
Native Americans and possibly Spaniards and Mexicans mined in the area before California became part of the United States. Beginning in the 1860s, Americans mined the eastern Mojave for a wide variety of minerals until the creation of Mojave National Preserve in 1994.