Balatoc Mines Tour
January 2, 2009 by lisa
Filed under attractions & landmarks, benguet
We were given flyers about the Balatoc Mines Tour near Baguio City to distribute to our guests and were just waiting for an excuse to check it out for ourselves, having read or heard very little about it.
Nico and I decided to treat two of his Baguio Table Tennis League (BTTL) athletes, Princess and Valer to Benguet Mining Corporation’s one-of-a-kind underground tour of the Balatoc Mines after they completed the most recent Philippines nursing board exams and figured that the “kids” would enjoy dressing up in miners’ outfits, taking a ride in an underground train, exploring the Vegas Tunnel and learning more about the mining culture of the Cordillera region in the Philippines. So off we went one beautiful day in December.
By the way, Valer also happens to be Kankanaey, one of the tribes of Cordilleras whose members are mostly miners, so it would have been a particularly good experience for him.
On the Road to Balatoc
Our meet-up point was at the Atenara House at 9:00 a.m. very near the Botanical Garden and Teachers Camp and were advised to head for Loakan Road via Kennon. It would have been quicker from Leonard Wood to cut through Camp John Hay’s entrance on Country Club Drive and exit at Loakan through the CJH Main Gate but there was some road work going on at the Voice of America side.
Knowing that the cut-off time for the tours is 2:00 p.m. (because it takes about 2 hours to complete the tour), we knew that we had plenty of time to take in both the underground tour and maybe even have a picnic at nearby Crosby Park.
We headed in the direction of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), and a little past it we saw these signs at Kias Junction so we figured we were on the right track. We took a left turn and headed down hill. It was, of course a little warmer than in Baguio City but that was perfectly alright because it was actually already a little too chilly at 12 degrees celsius in the City of Pines.
The road was in pretty good condition, with some very passable unpaved patches and some public works going on.
It is easy to spot the mining village of Balatoc because one is welcomed by a miner’s statue carved in bronze. To the right is a sign indicating Crosby Park, which we were planning to visit on the way back. During the quick stop for photos we asked the locals for directions. Faces peered at us from a large bunk house and we thought, “Wow, how difficult it must have been to be a miner, in the tunnels all day and home being a bunk bed with the rest of the gang.”
Up ahead was an inspection point manned by a security guard, and all we had to tell him was that we were planning to take the tour and he let us right in. Then we reached a fork of some sort and we were told by an old lady waiting for her jeepney ride that it was actually a circumferential road so we would not make any mistake with whichever we chose.
(This is the pick-up and drop off point for those going to Balatoc via public jeepney. After which one must hike down and back up afterwards. We were told that jeepneys come by every 30 minutes.)
The path going straight took us to the community area, passing through bunk houses, the Balatoc chapel and some other really old buildings that were built during the American “times” in the Philippines. Passing this side gives visitors a pretty good idea of how it is to live as a miner. The place actually looked “other worldly” to me — more like the back lot of a movie studio set up for a period flick.
The path on the left gets one to to the Benguet Mining Corporation office sooner, as we discovered on the way out, and it is recommended that those who trying to catch the tour cut-off time of 2:30 p.m. take this route.
At this point, I must say that the whole drive to Balatoc Mines in Itogon Benguet took us no more than 30 minutes, including all the stops for photos already. Coming up next is the exciting part as we went underground and became miners for a day.
We just...
Hi Lisa.As usual another very informative guide from you! Always been reading your comments,be it on where to dine,places to go,recently the shorter route to Baguio,and even local politics,haha.Thank you very much,and hope to hear another great adventure from you in the near future.When I was a kid,all I did was horseback riding and biking(at Burnham),now another new agenda when I bring my family there.
Thanks Eugene,
There are many things to discover about Baguio City, and many more reasons to visit. Even I have not explored all the nooks and crannies. And come on, for the kids, just the horseback riding, boating and biking already takes up all the vacation time!
Now the local politics part, that was never in the plan for this site, but it became necessary with all the mismanagement going on.
Honestly,the local politics thing is also important and very informative.I am a regular visitor of Baguio and I like being aware of what’s going on there.Though I’m not a resident of Baguio,I do care about the place.My hat’s off to your site,nothing like it
Thanks Eugene,
Baguio belongs to the Philippines, with us residents as mere caretakers. The issues plaguing the city cannot be localized or isolated. This is the best medium I can use right now. Thank you for understanding and caring.
Hi, I’m planning to organize a camp in Crosby Park. Do you know the contact details of the park? can I have a cellphone number of one who runs the park. Thanks!
No phone in the park. But you can call the Balatoc Mines Tour folks. Contact info available at http://www.gobaguio.com/balatoc-mines.html or check out http://www.benguetcorp.com. hope this helps
Dear lisa,
i am very glad for posting about balatoc mines.we will be leaving tomorrow for baguio to attend the pma alumni on sat. it is now included in our itinerary to visit this exciting place. i am positively sure that we all gonna like and enjoy it. thank you for this informative guide.
Hiya Nova,
Yup, you can take in the Balatoc Mines Tour especially because it is near PMA. Take note of the cut-off time though. You must be there by 2:00 p.m. Say hi to Ms. Vicky for me
Me and my wife have been treasure hunting, and we come across some items this lady has found in a cave, I need to find a gold buyer and I have some american currency of 1934 from a WQ.f. box
hi ms lisa, do you know where is Plaza-Balatoc-Acupan line?where can we find that?we are planning to go there this july and i wnat to go there. hope you can help me. do you have any miner or anyone contact number that can help me?thanks.
WELL…IM FROM ACUPAN CAMP 3,THE TURNING POINT OF THE JEEP….AND WE DONT HAVE PARK IN ACUPAN,WE ONLY HAVE CROSBY PARK BUT NOT NEAR TO THE ACUPAN…IT IS LOCATED AT THE SECOND GATE,IN THIS ALSO YOU CAN FIND THE THE STATEU THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED THE MAN WHO IS HOLDING A “MASO”…AND IF YOU PLANN TO GO TO ACUPAN WELLL……FROM NOW IT JUST ALI’L BIT DANGEROUS BECUASE OF THE LAND SLIDE…WELLLLLL JUST COME TO ACUPAN AND YOU WILL A EXPERIENCE HOW TO BE IN ACUPAN..K SEE YAH
We went to Baguio for the nth time but it was the first for my 10 year old boy and the second for my four other children. The Balatoc Mine Tour was the best! We had a blast (literally)! We enjoyed the tour. We had chapas and our certificates as important mementos. Our tour guide (ALMA) was very good. She patiently answered our questions. We loved the ANACONDA. I thought we have seen everything but this was the best Baguio experience by far. The P250 and P150 (student fee
I brought my kids to the Strawberry Farm and it was a letdown. If you pick strawberries, you pay P350/kg as against P200/kg if you buy them. I hope this tour becomes organized where a guide will talk to you about how strawberries are planted. How wine is made out of them with wine tasting or how it is preserved, etc. Travelling to Trinidad Valley was not worth the time and effort.
The Butterfly sanctuary at Camp John Hay was also a letdown. The butterflies were not active at all because of the cold weather. It was just good for photo ops. Skip this. We had fun though at the zip line and repelling at the eco trail of Camp John Hay.
Hi Bob,
The Balatoc Mines Tour is really great.
As for strawberries, I agree that it’s not so great. But I have to explain that the rationale for strawberries being more expensive at the farms is because so much is wasted when they are picked by non-farmers. Also folks are charged per kilo not per person. so if five of you went, it’s 70/person for the experience and photo opps.
Thanks for sharing your most recent Baguio experiences. I am sure other readers will appreciate the information!
Happy New Year!