Baggs (Poison Basin Uranium District)

Baggs, Wyoming, in southern Carbon County near the Colorado border, sits next to the Poison Basin Uranium District, discovered in October 1953 about seven miles west of town in the Miocene-age Browns Park Formation.[1] The district operated from 1954 to 1963, with uranophane-bearing sandstones assaying as high as 3.21% uranium in select samples — genuinely rich ore for a sandstone-hosted deposit.[1] Several named mines here (the Pit, Pit #1, Titan) are documented as closed with no reopening plans.[1] This is real, well-documented uranium mining history, not a padded pin — but it's also a radioactive-ore district, which changes the collecting calculus regardless of land status. Treat any visit with the caution that specific safety warrants.

The Poison Basin district lies roughly seven miles west of Baggs, Carbon County, Wyoming, near the Colorado state line.[1] No specific road directions to individual mine sites were found.

UNVERIFIED. General inference: dump-picking historic uranium mine tailings is the typical approach at closed districts like this, but radioactive ore material requires real precautions — a Geiger counter, gloves, avoiding dust inhalation, and not storing raw ore indoors are standard practice at any documented uranium mining district, not specific advice we've confirmed for Poison Basin itself.

Land status is UNVERIFIED — we found no source confirming current ownership (BLM vs. private vs. still-claimed) for the Poison Basin district's individual mines. Southern Wyoming rangeland here is typically a checkerboard of BLM, state trust, and private ranch land, but that's a regional pattern, not a confirmed answer for this specific district. Radiological safety is the standout caution here: this is documented uranium ore ground, and old mine workings carry the usual open-shaft and unstable-ground hazards on top of that. Confirm current status with the BLM Rawlins Field Office before any visit.