Arizona Ghost Towns

One of the things I enjoy about exploring Arizona is visiting old ghost towns. I love looking at the old architecture, equipment and personal items left behind in some other era. I enjoy trying to envision life in Arizona a hundred years ago. How did people survive back in the late 1800’s? How did they get water, food and supplies? What did they do for entertainment? How about protection? What did they do for money? These are all questions I ask myself when I visit the old places.

And you are in luck. There are still some great old ghost towns that you can explore in Arizona. Some are out in the middle of nowhere and can only be accessed by bushwhacking it miles through the desert. Others you can drive your car too and some are privately owned and restored to their previous glory.

I've listed some of the adventures in the hiking, biking and 4WD pages and listed them below. But before you look through those, you may want to check out the Ghost Town Forum.

Ghost Town Forum

One of the best places on the internet regarding ghost towns is the Ghost Town forum at www.forums.ghosttowns.com. This forum is full of great people, information, pictures, maps, history and whatever else you can think of pertaining to ghost towns.

If you're interested in Arizona history and ghost towns, this is the forum for you. And it's not just about Arizona, the forum deals with ghost towns across the nation.

Arizona Rails, Ruins and Trails Blog

Here's a new blog about tracking down Arizona's railroad lines near Flagstaff. If you're interested, check it out.

more ...

USGS Photographic Survey Website

I just found out about this website. It's filled with old photos of ghost towns, mines, etc., etc. Have fun exploring!

more ...

List of Ghost Town Adventures

Note: the adventures listed below will take you to some sort of ruins of the past. Not all will be to full-fledged ghost towns where intact structures still exist, but they all have something: foundations, mines, etc.

I have rated each Ghost Town for it's "Ghost Town-ishness." This is SWAG on my part and is just my off the top of my head gut reaction. Here's the thoughts with the ratings:

Rating	Meaning
	Has some stuff, but nothing to write home about
	Some cool stuff, but usually not a great deal of it and not in great shape
	A cool site. Has a good portion of interesting stuff to look at
	A great site. Has lots of stuff and may be in good shape
	Great. Shouldn't be missed. Lots of stuff and usually some restoration / museum

I've also include a short key on what I found at the site. This is by no means an extensive list, but should give you a good idea on what to expect.

Key	Description
Town site	Has multiple intact buildings many of which are restored
Building(s)	One or more buildings that are more than foundations, but not restored
Mine	Mine tunnels, open mine pits, tailing, etc
Mining Ruins	Old mining equipment in place
Foundations	Not much more than foundations and some walls left
Museum	A museum on site

Okay, so finally here's the list of "Ghost Towns" and the links to their specific adventures. Let me know what you find. And if you know of any other places I should include.

Have fun and be safe!

Ghost Town Adventures

Ghost Town Name	Rating	Type
Bathtub Tank		Mines, mining ruins, foundations
Battle Axe		Mines, mining ruins, foundations
Box Canyon		Mines
Coke Ovens		Mines, foundations, buildings
Hassayampa Canyon		Mines, foundations
Martinez Mine		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
Montana Mountain		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
Reymert		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
Ridgeline loop		Mines, mining ruins, foundations
Rug Road		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
Rim Road		Buildings
Strawberry School House		Restored school house
Homestead Creek		Foundations
Senator Hwy		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
American Flag		Buildings
Bull Springs		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
Campo Bonito		Mines, mining ruins, foundations
Dragoon Springs		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
Charouleau Gap		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
China Camp		Mines, foundations
Chiva Falls		Foundations
Cochise Peak		Mines
Copper Creek		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
Fish Canyon		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
Flux Canyon		Mines, mining ruins, foundations
Francis Mountain		Mines
FR4393		Mines
Gleeson		Foundations, buildings, restored Jail
Gunsight Pass		Mines, foundations
Helvetia		Mines, foundations
Jackson Cabin		Mines, mining ruins, buildings
Kentucky Camp		Town site, mines
Marble Mine		Mines, mining ruins, foundations
Redfield Canyon		Mines, buildings
Rice Peak		Mines, mining ruins
Sunnyside		Town site
Temporal Gulch		Mines, foundations
Total Wreck		Mines, foundations, mining ruins
Sasco		Mines, foundations, mining ruins
Brown Canyon		Mines, foundations, buildings
Camp Rucker		Town site
Fort Bowie		Town site, museum

Ghost Town Comments

Have you been to any of these ghost towns? What did you think? Comments and updates welcome.

Member Comments

Harshaw?

Question: I'd like to know a little more about Harshaw, Az?

Answer: Harshaw is an old mining town founded in the late 1800s in the Patagonia mountains in southeastern Arizona. It's an easy, 2WD tip to see. More information and pictures can be found here:

http://forums.ghosttowns.com/showthread.php?16681-Out-In-The-Patagonia-Mountains

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harshaw,_Arizona

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