The Keewenaw area attracted prospectors' early attention but it did not produce copper until the 1960s.

Chronology

• 1899: Keewenaw and Brown Cub staked by Carl Mienze and Andrew Naughtingham
• 1907: surface cuts and shallow shafts in the area
• 1907: shafts at Brown Cub and Black Cub, one of which was 62 feet (19 m)
• 1947: Noranda staked, drilled, and tested in the area but lost interest
• 1960s: early, area acquired by New Imperial Mines who conducted significant exploration to determine that significant copper existed
• 1969: attention focused on Keewenaw and Black Cub South after Arctic Chief and Little Chief open pit (further north) were mined out
• 1971: May, problems encountered with low-grade ore in Keewenaw caused a loss for owner, New Imperial Mines
• 1971: operations switched to Black Cub, which had an estimated lifespan of four months
• 1971: operations at Black Cub prematurely terminated due to slides

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Access

The Keewenaw area is easily accessible by road or foot from the Mary Lake country residential subdivision south of Whitehorse. From Fireweed Drive that goes around Mary Lake (the subdivision), turn onto the road (Booth Road) that leads to the cadet training centre (cadet camp). There's a small clear area immediately on the left where the Keewenaw road leaves Booth Road. You can walk from there or drive if you are feeling adventurous. See comments for the POIs and the map below.

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Points of interest

The map below shows some points of interest (POIs) in the Keewenaw area. The table that follows gives more info for each POI.

POI	Description	Location	Notes
1	possible parking spot, trail head	60.59213 -134.94402 503066 6717360	There's a small parking lot here just off the road (Booth Road) to the cadet training centre. You might consider parking here and walking in if you're hiking during the summer, and definitely during the winter. The road is pretty benign but just before you get to the first big waste rock pile, there's a steep rocky upslope (POI 5). Most normal cars can make it but it's a bit intimidating to the uninitiated. There's no good place to park just short of the upslope.
2	Mary Lake junction	60.58992 -134.94883 502803 6717113	Make sure you go right here. If you go left, you'll end up at Mary Lake (the actual lake). OK, check it out anyway, maybe on the way home.
3	railway crossing	60.58945 -134.95458 502488 6717061	In the winter, you might miss this. In the summer you'll probably see the rails cross the road. But the track is (in 2020) badly overgrown and certainly not a hiking corridor as some have suggested. To the south, the track continues along the west side of Mary Lake and then crosses the lake near its south end. The section along the lake is all overgrown.
4	pipeline trail junction	60.58531 -134.95641 502388 6716600	The pipeline trail joins the main road here. You might emerge here if you hike all the way around to POI 14.
5	rocky upslope, basalt columns	60.58337 -134.95936 502227 6716383	This rocky upslope might prove to be an intimidating barrier to some cars and drivers, and could be a reason to leave your car at POI 1. But as you go up the slope, glance right. The rushing water is Wolf Creek. And the high brown cliffs just on the other side of the creek are basalt columns geologically similar to those in Miles Canyon.
6	Copper Haul Road junction	60.58085 -134.95958 502215 6716103	New Imperial Mines extended the Copper Haul Road south to Keewenaw in the 1960s so they could truck ore to the mill at Little Chief farther north. The bridge over Wolf Creek is not the original. The road in the other direction leads you around POI 9 and to the other POIs to the south and east.
7	Keewenaw pit	60.57828 -134.95978 502204 6715816	This is the Keewenaw open pit that was mined in the late 1960s and early 1970s by New Imperial Mines. You can walk around it to admire the pleasant green water. Is the colour due to copper in the water or to plants on the bottom?
8	original Keewenaw mine site	60.57679 -134.95817 502292 6715650	This is probably the orignal early 1900s Keewenaw mine site complete with many pits and trenches, and well-ventilated accommodation... hidden away in the woods a short distance from the much later Keewenaw pit (POI 7).
9	Gem cleared area	60.57957 -134.95449 502494 6715960	This area was cleared in 1970 in preparation for eventual open pit mining, which never took place. This area is sometimes referred to as Kodiak Cub, which was probably the name given to early workings in the area.
10	Black Cub South, pit exit	60.57268 -134.95218 502621 6715193	This was the exit of the Black Cub South pit (POI 11). Ore and waste rock came up this way by truck. Follow the road south from POI 6 to here and keep following it to arrive at the south end of POI 11.
11	Black Cub South	60.57104 -134.94785 502859 6715011	This area was mined in 1971. As for Keewenaw, ore from this area went by truck down the Copper Haul Road (POI 6) to the mill near Little Chief. You can walk around the south end and then head back via POI 12 (shorter route) or via POIs 13, 14, and finally 4 again (longer route)
12	Black Cub North	60.57233 -134.94757 502874 6715154	This area was cleared but never mined. Younger trees have grown back.
13	Brown Cub	60.56966 -134.93779 503410 6714857	The Brown Cub deposit was known in the 1900s but never amounted to much and was never mined in any significant way. This POI indicates a general area and not a specfic feature. Head east to POI 14.
14	pipeline trail and lookout	60.57042 -134.92987 503844 6714942	This trail is the route of an above-ground pipeline built about 1942 between Whitehorse and Skagway in the same pipeline-building frenzy that generated the Canol Pipeline between Norman Wells, NT and a refinery in Whitehorse. If you look out over the cliff, you'll see Mary Lake to the left and the railway (look carefully; it's badly overgrown) to the centre and right along the low part of the other side of the valley. The railway crosses Mary Lake out of sight to the left (north). Follow the trail north to POI 4.

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Downloads

POIs for GPS	map for GPS
file of POIs in GPS format for this project and all others in the Whitehorse Copper Belt that you can download	GPS map for this project that you can download

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Photos and more info

	POI 3. Overgrown railway tracks, fall 2019. Not a hiking corridor.
	POI 7. Keewenaw pit looking west.
	POI 7. Keewenaw pit looking west.
	POI 7. Keewenaw pit looking east.
	POI 8. Pit and remains of cabin from early 1900s.
	POI 8. Early 1900s cabin, well ventilated.
	POI 8. Part of the extensive hand-dug trenching in the area.
	POI 8. Video that starts with the cabin and main pit directly in front, then pans over to show some of the extensive trenching in the area. This video © 2020 Elizabeth MacDonald.
	POI 10. Black Cub South looking south. This was the road out of the pit.
	POI 11. Black Cub South looking north from the south end.

TimmiT History Exploration Notebook