Christmas, Arizona: The Holiday is Over

Directions: Christmas is located on a closed road which is about 7 miles North of Winkelman off of Highway 77. The road to Christmas is well gated, with a permanent wall built across the road.

Christmas is one of the spots you see on a map and wonder what it's like and how it got such an un-Arizonan name. Christmas is another mining ghost town, just like so many others that dot the American Southwest. The area was found in 1878 and claims were staked that later became invalidated because they were on the San Carlos Indian Reservation. It took a few years but the boundaries of the reservation were changed and news of the boundary change was received on Christmas Eve, the new claim was named Christmas. The town of Christmas was established in 1905. After some up and down economics, the town grew to over 1,000 by the 1930s and had a grocery store, hat shop, dairy, school and a church.

The mine changed owners several times throughout it's history, closed and reopened depending on the price of copper. It converted from an underground mine to an open pit mine in the 1960s. The Christmas mine finally closed for good in the 1980s. During it's lengthy existence nearly 55 million tons of copper were mined as well as some gold and silver.

Most of the building have bulldozed and all that remains in most places are the foundations. There are a couple of shacks and some tanks that may be part of a processing plant. The views are great.

I mountain biked my way through the town and up to the mine. It was over a 1,000 feet of climbing on wide but rocky road. I imagine there are other mining roads that have access to the upper workings that you can access with an UHV.

Cane Springs Canyon to the Red Bird Mine

Park at the Bath Tub!

Directions: Take Highway 87 North towards Payson to Forest Road 26, which is on the right, about a half mile past Milepost 229. Your only going to be on FR 26 for a short distance, when you reach a parking area with a concrete water tank. There's a gate in the barb wire fence, go through gate, stay to the right to avoid tons o' cat claws. There's a short steep trail to the canyon.

Dog Friendly: Yes. The only cacti are prickly pear and there was flowing water. I'm not sure if it runs year round. There were some places that we had to scramble over rocks.

Cane Spring Canyon is another great day hike option if you're looking for

Howlie Swimming

something close to the valley and away from the crowded and popular hiking spots. There wasn't much of a trail but you can make your way at the bottom of the canyon with only a couple of spots where you have scramble up and down rocks. All three of my dogs handle them easily but Howlie, the youngest, took some coaxing in the steepest places. There was plenty of water flowing in the canyon creating some pools deep enough for the dogs to swim and stay cool. I was surprised because a lot of the creeks we've hiked recently were dry.

Where's the Road?

After you hike through Cane Spring Canyon, you can explore Corral Creek or brave the old mine roads from the Red Bird Mine, in the foothills of Mount Ord. The Red Bird was a mercury mine, worked in the 1960s. The roads are over grown and collapsing in places but they do offer some great views that hiking in the canyon didn't provide. There wasn't much left of the mine beyond some rusty old metal. It's always inspiring to see how nature reclaims itself.

The Hike to the Belmont Mine, History and a View

The Belmont Headframe

Directions: From Phoenix take the US 60 to Highway 177 South in Superior. Drive .9 miles to Apache Leap Rd. Travel 1.2 miles to what's left of an old mining road through Belmont Canyon. Stay on this trail and avoid any spurs to the left until you see the Grand Pacific Mine. The trail switch backs left just before the Grand Pacific.

Dog Friendly: So-so, there isn't any water most of year so pack enough for you and your pooch. This is not a summer time hike, Fall through early Spring. There is cactus through most of the hike but the teddy bear or jumping cholla disappear as you gain elevation. Just beware and make sure you have a cone and some needle nose pliers. I did not come across any open shafts on this hike but we stayed on the road.

If you're looking for a short, challenging hike with the opportunity to visit history, this is the hike for

The Belmont Shaft

you. The trail head is just outside of Superior, along Apache Leap Road. The hike is only around three miles round trip but you're gaining over 1,000 feet of elevation. Plus if you take some time to explore the areas around the Grand Pacific and Belmont Mines, it will add some more time to your trip. The trail is actually an old mine road but I think it's been deliberately destroyed to make it more difficult to get to the mines. It's weathered into a very rocky, rough single track.

The Belmont Mine is tucked into Belmont Canyon under the looming cliffs of the Apache Leap. Copper, gold, silver and host of other minerals have been dug out of the ground at the Belmont Mine. The area was first prospected in 1899 and mining began in 1913 through about 1945.

Ronin in the hoist house.

The site has two buildings still standing and the Belmont Shaft, that is caged for our safety. I had the dogs with me and for once I was grateful for the protection. The shaft is 1,600 ft deep, I leaned over the cage to look down and it appeared bottomless. When I dropped some rocks down it, I could hear them hit the sides but never heard the definitive thud when they hit the bottom. Besides the shaft there are supposed to be over 30,000 feet of underground workings. One of the surviving buildings is the hoist house that still has some of the machinery inside. You can smell the grease. The other building might have been a workshop and there were some rock walls as well that may have been another building. There were also two rusty water tanks. This is one of the few abandoned mines I've come across where the head frame is still there but unfortunately it's now at the foot of the tailings pile in Belmont Canyon. It would have been cool if they had left it standing.

The view along the hike is tremendous. You look west towards Picket Post Mountain, Superior and the Superstition Mountains. You look east upwards at Apache Leap, named from the legend of when 45 Apache Warrior cornered by cavalry troops chose to leap to their deaths rather than surrender. This legend is part of the argument against the Resolution Copper Mine at Oak Flat. An interesting side note is that when I took the surface tour of the Oak Flat Mine site, the guide who is a member of the San Carlos Reservation disputed the legend.

The Belmont Mine

The Rugged Trail to the Grand Pacific Mine

Direction: It's only a short distance from Superior off of Apache Leap Road. The Google Map coordinates are: (33.269810,-111.070980). The road or trail is hard to see from the road, there is a ditch and mounds of rock. The road is rugged and is now only a single track trail but it's easy to follow.

Dog Friendly: So-so, there are cactus and there is no water. I didn't come across any open shafts but there is lot of mining in the area.

The Grand Pacific Mine claim was first discovered in 1900 and mined in 1916. The last year of production was 1955. Copper was the primary commodity, although they also mined silver, gold and manganese. I found a lot of tailings, a few foundations and a gated adit (see photo). There is also a lot of abandoned ore cart tracks.


I decided to make this another hike-a-bike adventure to save time on the descent but it was rugged trail. I was able to ride alot of the down and I was pretty cautious since I was alone. If you go by bike or hike, look out for the cat claw and other thorny bushes. Overall it was a good adventure, the mine was pretty cool and views were great.

MTB Journey to the Bronx...Mine

Directions: The Bronx Mine is only a mile or so off the US 60 but its not easy to get there. The old mine road is blocked by a ditch and rocks. There isn't good area to park near the road. I ended up parking on the other side of the 60 and riding my bike to the road. There is an old gate that you can get through to get to the road. The Google Map coordinates for the road 33.361712, -110.975440. It's about 1.5 miles East of Top of the World.

Good for Dogs: Not so much, with out better parking and access. I can't see walking my pack along the 60.

Molybdenite...I think

The Bronx Mine was worked in 1942 as a Molybdenite, Silver, Gold and Lead mine. The property was originally worked in 1890 for Gold, Silver and Copper. I found a collapsed adit and shaft that i believe is relatively deep. There are some interesting rocks in the tailings but the mine itself isn't all that amazing.

I wasn't expecting much from this mine but I was determined to get there. There are several roads that aren't accessible because of private land in Top of the World and that pisses me off. The terrain in that area is fascinating. The old mine road to the Bronx mine was a great downhill and there appear to miles more in the area. I got off to a late start and by the time I explored the mine is was getting dark. I will be back to explore the roads some more and other workings in the area. 

Collapsed Tunnel at the Bronx Mine

The Oxbow Mine

Directions: The Oxbow Mine is located off of Highway 87 near Payson, from the Bush Highway, take Highway 87, 46.5 miles to Forest Road 537. Stay on this road for two miles, where you come to the mine road on your left. The Oxbow mine is about .5 miles.

This was quick and easy trip to the Oxbow Mine, which was a gold, copper and silver (plus a boat load of other minerals.) Gold was discovered here in 1875 and the area was mined from 1916 to the 1980s. There was a main tunnel that was over 500 feet long with shafts and other workings. Besides the underground mine this was also a placer mine. This area shows extensive mineralization. All in all a good trip to some interesting Arizona history.

Tonto Creek and the Pittsburgh Tonto Mine

Directions: From the Mesa take Highway 87 to Highway 188. Stay on Highway 188 for 3.3 miles and your going to turn left on Forest Road 649 for .5 miles where you will turn right on Forest Road 184. This road is rough and would require a high clearance 4WD. I parked here and hiked because I wanted a good hike for the dogs and I'm not that confident in my off roading skills. The coordinates for the mine (34°00'01.3"N 111°17'43.5"W)

Dog Friendly: Yes, I went in August and Tonto Creek was flowing and there were large swimming areas. This would be an ideal hike for late fall, winter and early spring. We left early and it was hot on the trip back (95 degrees when we got back to the truck). There are two significant uphills so make sure you're packing enough water for the climb out of Tonto Creek. Know yourself and your dogs, heat kills. Also there are cows, so if your dogs like to chase them, probably want to keep them leashed.

The hike to Tonto Creek wasn't the most exciting terrain but the creek itself and the canyon it flows

Howlie and Ronin standing guard at a prospect

through was great. There were several large pools deep enough for the dogs to have to swim. I kept my boots dry until we came to a point where I had to wade through waist deep water to keep going to the mine. In August the water was great, I'd imagine it would be a little chilly in December.

Adit partially filled with sand

The Pittsburgh Tonto Mine was a gold mine established in 1942. It wasn't right on the creek but up on the steep side of the canyon; however, it was easy to spot because there was a cable running from other side of the creek to the mine. I don't know for sure if it was part of the original mine as way to get the ore to the other side of Tonto Creek. I climbed up to an adit that was partially full of sand. The surrounding rock was highly mineralized and colorful. I did not make it up to the other workings. The canyon walls were steep but did not require climbing gear. I was going to keep going but Ronin didn't like being left and came up with me. I knew getting down was going to be hard enough without a 110 pound ridgeback scrambling around with me. I am definitely coming back when it cools off, without the dogs.