Recent trip to Eldorado & Uranium City
By Rorry Harding
My brothers (Jess, Dunn, Keith, Bruce) & I recently made a pilgrimage back to UC and
Eldorado so I thought I would pass this on to those at the reunion. The timing was just
not right for any of us to get to the reunion.
Our family moved out in 1964 when my twin brother, Dunn, & I had just finished Grade 4 at
Gilchrist School. Our father, John Harding, was a Mining Engineer at Eldorado from 1954 till
Flights in were arranged through Cliff at Athabaska Fish Camps. We stayed there for 1 night
The airport in Eldorado is still open and Dean was very busy refueling planes on their way
to a Dene Pow-wow in Fort Chip when we were there.
We were picked up at the airport by Kevin, Dean Classen’s partner in their contracting firm.
He gave us a quick tour and recommended that we camp at the old Kiwanis Beach at Martin Lake
next to UC. That worked out very well. There is a great beach, it is open and breezy to keep
the bugs down, the grass is cut, and there are picnic tables and an outhouse. We got clean
water from the tap at the fire hall. Dean also runs a Bed & Breakfast, if you aren’t into
The town or settlement of UC has 2 canoes for residents to use, which Dean arranged for us to
borrow. He also rented us a propane tank as there was no Coleman fuel and we couldn’t carry it
We canoed through Martin Lake and the channel to Beaverlodge Lake, and then camped at the
portage to Athabaska. A nice little trip.
Jack Cochrane took us across to the Sand Dunes Provincial Park for a day. His prices were
very fair, and he was a great host and guide. His boats and camp are near Goldfields on
the Big Lake, but he has a place and phone in UC.
On the one cold rainy and windy day that we had, Dean rented us a crew cab pickup and we
toured whatever we could get close to without risking getting stuck. The old auto wrecker
near Bushell has all kinds of very old cars, if you are into that.
The hospital is closed but we toured the building and found some old drawings that our Dad
had done for the water system.
There is nothing left of the old town of Eldorado but we took photo’s from the hill behind
where the old school used to be.
Dixie at the store provided us with the food that we didn't bring in. They had been out of
eggs and bread for a few days but had most other basics. Her store is only open afternoons
Carolyn Lenko works at the Post Office and the Town Hall part time. We got fishing licences,
good advice as to what goes on there, and a few UC souvenirs from her.
We seemed to be a bit of a curiosity as there are very few visitors but everyone we met was
very friendly and cooperative.
Although some may be depressed by the state of the town we found it a very positive
experience to return after 40 years to a place that shaped our lives.
Rorry Harding Aug 11, 2005