.jpg "Bat Outflight at the Orient Mine")
.jpg "Bat Outflight")
.jpg "Interpretive Signs at the Orient Mine")
.jpg "Glory Hole interpretive signs")
.jpg "Bat Outflight at Summer")
.jpg "A Mexican Free-tail Bat")
.jpg "Bat Outflight")
.jpg "Bat Outflight from Below")
.jpg "Bat Outflight at Sunset")
.jpg "Bat Outflight at Sunset, Fall 2007")
Also known as Mexican Free-tail Bats, some 250,000 roost in the historic Orient Mine every summer. This mostly male migration starts as far south as South America, gathering numbers as it flies north with small wings, no more than __ inchs long.
Brazilian Free-Tailed Bats from Colorado Parks & Wildlife on Vimeo.
Several much smaller colonies live in the Valley year-round, many hibernating in the Orient Mine and visiting Valley View well before the larger migration arrives. Species include...
Corynorhinus Townsendii Townsend's Big-Eared Bat
Eptesicus Fuscus Big Brown Bat
Lasionycteris Noctivagans Silver Haired Bat
Lasiurus Cinereus Hoary Bat
Myotis Ciliolabrum Western Small Footed Myotis
Myotis Evotis Long-eared Myotis
Myotis Lucifugus Little Brown Bat
Myotis Thysanodes Fringed Myotis
Myotis Volans Long-Legged Myotis
Nyctinomops Macrotis Big Free-tailed Bat
Tadarida Brasiliensis Mexican Free-tailed Bat
[[Introduce WNS]]
This fungus is not yet been discovered among our bats.
The CDOW is actively monitoring our bats’ behavior and numbers using several “bat detectors” located around the Orient Mine.
.jpg "Mining Camp")
.jpg "Historic Photos of the Town of Orient and Mines")
.jpg "SLV Historian, Volume XIX no 3, 1987")
.jpg "Orient General Store")
.jpg "Supervisor's House")
.jpg "A Miner and His Mule")
.jpg "Miners at Tunnel")
.jpg "Miner's Cabin")
.jpg "Company Scrip Currency")
.jpg "Company Scrip Currency")
.jpg "Map of the Mining Claims of the Orient Mine")
.jpg "Camp & Plant Letterhead")
.jpg "New Orient 2")
.jpg "New Town of Orient")
.jpg "Historic Structures abandoned at the Town of Orient")
.jpg "Historic Town of Orient ruins")
.jpg "Looking Through History")
.jpg "Miner and his Car")
.jpg "Orient Children Dressed as Miners for a Play, 1928")
.jpg "Orient Children Performing as Hawaiians, 1928")
.jpg "Girls on Bridge at Orient")
.jpg "Girl Playing Banjo")
.jpg "Couple of the Orient Mine")
.jpg "School Teacher in the Snow")
The Orient Mine and its summer bat colonies are free for all guests to view and enjoy. Access to non-guests is limited to the Black Canyon trailhead. The road to this trailhead is primitive, not maintained and may not be passable without high clearance vehcile. Overnight camping is not permitted. No fires, cooking or grill use permitted.
Always check-in at the OLT Welcome Center before proceeding. Staff have helpful information regarding the bat outflight and other attractions.
Vehicles may not drive past the gates which should remain locked. Footpaths allow hiking beyond.
Visitors may hike in from the Welcome Center or from Black Canyon Trailhead to the north. Either way, the hike is just under two miles with a steep incline along the final quarter mile. This takes about an hour although many prefer to stop and study the interpretive signs along the way.
Visitors are asked to remain on established roads and trails as mining areas can be dangerous and historic ruins are easily damaged.
As you approach the ''Glory Hole" to observe the bat outflight, please observe the posted signs and carefully avoid disrupting the bats and their habitat.
Like Valley View Hot Springs, this open space has no restrictions requiring clothing. In favorable weather, naturists may find it more comfortable to hike without clothing. Overt sexual behavior is strictly prohibited and illegal anywhere on OLT property.
Important: Keep in mind that the sun will have set following the bat outflight and weather can turn quickly. Be prepared with warm clothes, flashlights, and good footwear for your return hike. Be especially cautious of lighting while hiking.
The Orient Mine, active from 1880 through 1932, was the largest producer of iron ore in Colorado, having produced about two million tons of limonite. It is believed that the name Orient came from the Old French word meaning east (rising sun), since the mine is located on the eastern side of the San Luis Valley. (There is no evidence of Chinese or other Asian miners working in the mine.) The Orient Mine had two associated town sites - one in the upper area in the early years and the lower town site which was active in the early 1900's. Today nothing remains of the towns except stories and a few foundations.
At its peak, the town of Orient had a population of more than 400, supporting a library, barber shop, school, 2 restaurants, a boarding house for 300, a saloon, a milling company and other small businesses including a supplier of work clothing.
Today, the Orient Mine is significant because for the last forty years or so it has been home to nearly 250,000 migratory bats. Bats were first documented at the Orient Mine in 1967 and have played a vital role in the chemical- and pesticide-free agriculture of the Valley. The Orient Mine is a designated Colorado Natural Area and Colorado Division of Wildlife Watchable Wildlife site.
Access to the interior of the Orient mine is currently prohibited due to White Nose Syndrome, a fungus that severely disrupts the sleeping pattern of hibernating bats to the point of colony collapse. White Nose Syndrome has not been found in Orient Mine as it doesn't, so far, affect migratory bats, but the Orient Mine is also home to five or six populations of hibernating bats. OLT's voluntary closure of the mine is part of similar closures throughout the American West to prevent the spread of this disease.
The mine is also a glimpse into the geologic history of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the San Luis Valley, a glimpse into a past that begins over 1 billion years ago. Its more recent history as an iron mine, starting in the late 1800s, has connections to Colorado mining history.
.jpg "Diamond Drillers")
.jpg "Family Tour of the Orient Mine")
.jpg "Family Tour of the Orient Mine")
.jpg "Miners at Work")
.jpg "SLV Historian, Volume XIX #3, 1987")
.jpg "Narrow Gauge Railrod at nearby Mineral Hot Springs")
.jpg "Tramway No 5")
.jpg "Railroad Panorama")
.jpg "Historic Mining Tressles at the Orient Mine")
.jpg "Tram above the Glory Hole at the Orient Mine")
.jpg "Campfire Girls")
.jpg "Mining cart tagged")
.jpg "Orient Tipple Blueprint")
.jpg "Winter tressle at Orient Mine")
.jpg "Glory Hole at the Orient Mine")
.jpg "Miners at the Orient Mine")
.jpg "Tent City")
.jpg "Artifacts Displayed at the Welcome Center")
-2.jpg "Artifacts Displayed at the Welcome Center")
For the education, enjoyment, and well-being of current and future generations, Orient Land Trust:
promotes a positive clothing-optional experience at all properties including Valley View Hot Springs, Orient Mine and Everson Ranch;
preserves the viewshed, including land acquisition;
protects natural, wild, agricultural, and historic resources, in the northern San Luis Valley.
