The Grandstand

The Grandstand (elevation 3,781) is a large outcrop of quartz monzonite (a granitic igneous rock) that rises above the mud surface of the northern end of the Racetrack Playa. Similar rock crops out through much of adjacent Ubehebe Peak and across the valley in the mountains near the Lost Burro Mine on the east side of the playa. Historic mining activity focused on skarn mineralization around the margins of these plutons in the Paleozoic-age carbonate rocks they intruded. Ores of copper, lead, zinc, and traces of silver and gold were discovered, but nothing proved economical to mine over the long term (McAllister, 1955). The playa and surrounding mountainsides are now mostly protected by wilderness status.