This listing is about some of the old ghost towns that we have found in the Southern Arizona region. Ghost Towns in Southern Arizona are mostly about mining boom and bust. We would include Tombstone, but it survives. Please feel free to send us a note and tell us about a Ghost Town in your area. Read our stories about some of the ghost towns we have found by clicking on a hotspot below.
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Ghost Towns of Southern Arizona
A Day In Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County is still sparsely populated and remains an excellent destination for bird and wildlife photographers, hikers, ghost town hunters, kayakers, and other outdoor enthusiasts.
read more...Fairbank AZ: Ghost Town
Fairbank is a Southern Arizona ghost town, and one of the best preserved, thanks to numerous conservation efforts. It’s located in the San Pedro Riparian Conservation Area about 10 miles west of Tombstone. Here conservation efforts have saved the San Pedro River, a haven for dozens of species of critters and birds.
read more...Klondyke Arizona: (Almost) Ghost Town
Klondyke is a near-ghost town in western Graham County. In the second decade of the 21st century, the only roads out there are still unpaved. The Klondyke cemetery is just southeast of town. There you will find the graves of the Thomas Jefferson “Jeff” Power and his family. Few know the sad story of these [...]
read more...Kentucky Camp, AZ: A Ghost Town With Accommodations!
More than a hundred years ago, Kentucky Camp was the headquarters for the Santa Rita Water & Mining Company, which was formed to extract placer deposits from the Greaterville Mining District in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains 9 miles NW of Sonoita.
read more...Mescal AZ: A Pictorial
I had been waiting months to return to Mesca AZl and photograph the old western movie set with dramatic monsoon clouds.
read more...Ghost Town Slideshow – Gleeson, Pearce, Courtland, Cochise, AZ
Ghost Town Trail: A road trip through Southeastern Arizona from Gleeson to Courtland to Pearce to Cochise.
These were all mining boomtowns in the early decades of the 20th century. While each had its own distinct character, they all succumbed to the same fate. When their mines played out, the inhabitants left for better pickings.
Tombstone: The Town Too Tough To Die Almost Did
By the 1930’s, Tombstone was dying. The mining boomtown of the 1880’s was long gone. In 1882, Tombstone residents numbered between 6,000 and 7,000. By the time these photographs were taken, the nation was deep in the Great Depression, and Tombstone was almost a ghost town.
read more...Gleeson Ghost Town & Rattlesnake Oddities
Our April 2012 road trip took us first to the ghost town of Gleeson (yes, that’s how they spelled it). After a look around at some of the ruins, we headed west toward Tombstone on a dirt road for just a few miles until we saw the sign for Rattlesnake Crafts, one of Southern Arizona’s stranger places. John & Sandy Weber make and sell wallets, belts, and other items out of rattlesnake skins. They also have a significant collection of gems and Old West artifacts.
read more...In The Middle of Nowhere: Rattlesnake Crafts & Rocks!
One of the stranger places we visited on our tour of Southeastern Arizona is John & Sandy’s Rattlesnake Crafts & Rocks. John makes wallets, belts, and other useful items and souvenirs out of rattlesnake skins and sells them out of an old trailer. He also collects a lot of stuff others have discarded as junk. Here you will find literally tons of Old West artifacts lovingly horded for decades and on display for your amusement. Old signs, bottles, tools, boots, lanterns, you-name-it.
read more...Ghost Town Trail: Pearce To Cortland To Gleeson!
On a recent Road Trip, we stopped at a few ghost towns, namely Pearce, Cortland, and Gleeson along the Ghost Town Trail. These are all located near Sunsites east of Tombstone.
read more...Road Trip – Day 1; Ghost Towns, Slaughter Ranch, & Portal
Above is the route Ms. Karen & I took on a three-day weekend to Southeastern Arizona. This is a wonderful place for children and adults. Tons of hiking, picnicking, camping, fishing, bird and critter watching. And lots of Native American and Pioneer history.
read more...Ruby Arizona: Our Best Ghost Town
Ruby Arizona is about 12 miles from Arivaca. About half way there, the road goes from pavement to dirt. But it’s well-maintained and a standard sedan can easily travel on it (unless of course the area gets a hard rain). Again, do not rely on your GPS. ******************** Ruby was a mining [...]
read more...Ghost Tours of Southern Arizona
Tombstone Jeep Tours: A Day In The Old West.
Take one of the many Tombstone jeep tours offered by Into The West Jeep Tours and Mark and his crew will transport you back in time to the Old West of Cochise, Geronimo, Johnny Ringo, Wyatt Earp, and Doc Holliday.
read more...Bisbee Grand Hotel Bed & Breakfast: A Review.
I have had the pleasure of staying in many historical hotels & inns, including European castles. Considering their antiquity, travelers have to decide if the experience of living temporarily in a relic is worth doing without certain modern amenities and putting up with a few quirks & inconveniences.
read more...Ghosts of Bisbee
I stayed overnight at the Eldorado Suites Hotel in Bisbee, but did not encounter any ghosts. Nor was I promised any such encounters. Lots of places in Bisbee are “said” to be haunted. The historic old Grand Hotel on Main Street, for example. Lindsey, the bartender there described to me several otherworldly “events” she had personally experienced. Spooky.
read more...Thar Be Ghosts In Downtown Tucson!
Despite the fact that yesterday, June 15, 2012, the official daytime temperature at Downtown Tucson was 104 degrees, last night was downright chilling. Allow me to explain. I had signed up for a ghost tour of Downtown. Mounted on Zippy, my trusty red scooter, I met our ghost host, Jean Pierre, at the appointed time [...]
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