I found this place by accident one day; the area had chain link fences over the roads onto the property with cement blocks stating 'no trespassing'. The fence was in poor shape and broken on one side, getting in was as easy as walking in! The roadways to the barricade had 0 signs of human presence despite it being right off the moderately traveled highway. I walked to the largest standing building and was surprised at what I found. I took a few pics with my phone but decided to return another day with my 70D, and warmer clothes. I returned later that week, after class again. Thankfully the weather was nice for this time of year (0 C / 32 F) and I brought my gear with me to properly photograph this lumber mill.
This property seemed to be a part of a larger nearby operation, and served as, what looked to be a large staging area. Unfortunately, the largest building on site was demolished (sometime between 2006 and 2012). However a few structures were spared from demolition on the large 500m by 500m (25 hectares, or 60+ acres) property. 90% of the property was timber storage, and roadways. I originally thought this was an OSB plywood mill, but I'm pretty sure it was a lumber mill.
(Photos taken January 19th 2017.)
Enjoy the photos!
1.
Some sort of scaffolding with draw bridges, my guess it was for workers to un-strap loads of logs from logging trucks as the turned onto the property, to drop timber off.
2.
Aspen growing through the staircase. 3.
Draw bridge with pulley system.
4.
View of the main building from the scaffolding.
5.
Bunk house with washrooms, kitchen, briefing room, and an office.
6.
Calendar in the bunk house. 7.
The main buildings infeed point.
8.
Chain conveyors that pull the logs into the mill.
9.
The main buildings infeed point
10.
The main buildings infeed point.
11.
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Mill.
13.
The blue conveyor (from the infeed stage) on the bottom left feeding the rest of the mill.
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Dust removal belt underneath the chains.
18.
Under the chain conveyors.
19.
Conveyor to the outfeed stage, notice the great horned owl nest in the rafters.
20.
This building felt very...temporary or portable, the walls were made of canvas/tarp material, likely a seasonal mill.
21.
End of the chain conveyor.
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Chain. 23.
24.
Canvas/tarp material for walls.
25.
Great horned owl nest.
26.
The guillotine-like equipment was used in packaging lumber at the final stage of the mill.
27.
The larger building that was demolished.
28.
Cement walls, pillars, and piles are all that remain.
29.
And we end with the land of living skies.
Overall a good location with almost zero vandalism. No barbed wire, or security, also relatively hidden from public eyes.