BE35 ENG FAILED DURING CRUISE NEAR MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. EMER ARPT WAS LOCATED VIA GPS; AND A SUCCESSFUL FORCED LNDG WAS ACCOMPLISHED.

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I FLEW A VFR FLT TO ZZZ. THE PAX WERE A YOUNG MOTHER AND HER 1 YR OLD. I MET THE PAX AT THE FBO; OBTAINED A BRIEFING; BUT THE WX FORECAST WAS SO GOOD I KNEW I'D JUST GET OUT OF THE CLASS BRAVO AIRSPACE AND GO DIRECT. I COMPLETED A PREFLT; NOTED NOTHING UNUSUAL; LOADED MOTHER AND BABY; AND RECEIVED CLRNC. A GOOD START-UP; TEMPS AND FLOWS GOOD; GOOD TAXI; GOOD RUN-UP; GPS LOCK ON; RADIO CHKS AND 6-PACK ALL OK. DEP -- NO PROB; CLRED OUT OF CLASS B -- NO PROB; CLRED TO 8500 FT -- NO PROB. NEARING INHOSPITABLE TERRAIN; I DETERMINED TO CHK NEAREST ARPTS VIA THE GPS AND CONTINUED TO DO SO EVERY FEW MINS WHILE MONITORING THE GAUGES. AGAIN; EVERYTHING WAS IN THE GREEN AND GOOD. THE TERRAIN BECAME MORE CHALLENGING AND I FLEW A LITTLE FURTHER W; PLANNING DIRECT TO ZZZ. SUDDENLY THERE WAS A MUFFLED 'POOF' SOUND WITH AN IMMEDIATE DECREASE IN PWR AND THE ACFT SLOWED. I APPLIED FULL MIXTURE AND PROP. NO CHANGE. I RECALL SCANNING THE GAUGES AND QUICKLY NOTING WE WERE GOING DOWN OVER NOTHING BUT MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. I DECLARED AN EMER WITH CTR; LEVELED THE PLANE AND SIMULTANEOUSLY STARTED SHALLOW TURN TO THE E; THINKING LEVEL TERRAIN WAS BEHIND. DURING THE TURN I PRESSED THE 'NRST' BUTTON AND HAPPENED TO GLANCE OUT MY WINDOW. BELOW WAS ZZZ1. THE GPS CONFIRMED ZZZ1 WAS W AT 2 MI. I DID NOT HESITATE IN REVERSING THE TURN. I CONTINUED THE CALLS AND DID NOT TALK TO THE MOTHER; ALTHOUGH AS I SCANNED THE AREA I COULD SEE SHE WAS DISTRESSED. I DID NOT TRY TO RESTART THE ENG. MY FOCUS WAS ON FLYING THE AIRPLANE; JUDGING HOW TO GET BEST ALIGNED WITH THE ARPT AND PROVIDING ATC LOCATION AND POS. IN 5 MINS WE LOST 5000 FT; WHILE TRYING TO KEEP ENOUGH AIRSPD TO STAY ALOFT AND MANEUVER FOR A BASE ENTRY. I COMPLETED A SERIES OF SPIRALS AND AIMED FOR THE MIDDLE OF THE RWY. I TURNED A BASE LEG; LOWERED THE GEAR AND FLAPS. ONCE ON FINAL; I NEEDED XWIND CORRECTION AND TOUCHED DOWN MID-FIELD; IMMEDIATELY ON THE BRAKES; SLOWED DOWN; COASTED OFF ON THE LAST EXIT TO THE TXWY. IT WAS VERY QUIET; AS THE PROP STOPPED. I ASKED THE MOTHER IF SHE AND BABY WERE OK. SHE SAID YES; AND WE EXITED THE PLANE. THE LOWER COWLING WAS COVERED WITH OIL; NOT A LOT; BUT ENOUGH TO NOTICE. ON MONDAY MY A&P SYNCED UP WITH AN FBO. THEY SURMISED THE CAMSHAFT FAILED RESULTING IN A CATASTROPHIC FAILURE.