Took a little afternoon drive to an area on the Agua Fria River NE of Mayer today. It was beautiful.
Stoddard is an old ghost town mining claim owned by one of my customers. We never really got into what is supposed to be left of the town. But the area is worth visiting. We found some old mines and buildings to look at. It was really interesting from a historic view.
The "river" was running about 10-15 feet wide today, really more of a creek in a much wider bed. There is surprisingly little litter in an area that is obviously well respected and much used. There are huge, ancient cottonwoods everywhere. The elevation is about 3500.
The road in is rather boring, but there are many side trails to explore. Mines are common in the area. There is copper, silver and iron. Camping opportunities abound.
A couple of outfits are at work in the area, mining the old mine tailings for landscape rock while cleaning up. They seem like decent people.
To get there, go to the Circle K store in Mayer. Directly across 69 is the beginning of Copper Road. The road forks within 100 feet of the highway. The right leads to a trailer neighborhood. The left is Copper road. Pavement ends, lock the hubs here. The most used road is plain for several miles until you reach Stoddard Road turning off to the right. There is a sign. Stay left there. Stoddard Road on the right leads to a ranch with a gate. 3 or 4 miles further on the left fork brings you to the river area and a lot of mines to explore. We found the old foundations of what must have been the processing center for the mines in the area. There must have been as many as 100 people employed there in the not too distant past.
The stream is clean and unspoiled. Except for a few tire tracks, it is unlittered and beautiful. We saw very little of cans, broken glass, or other signs of disrespect. It is a great place to visit. I will definitely return.
Stoddard is an old ghost town mining claim owned by one of my customers. We never really got into what is supposed to be left of the town. But the area is worth visiting. We found some old mines and buildings to look at. It was really interesting from a historic view.
The "river" was running about 10-15 feet wide today, really more of a creek in a much wider bed. There is surprisingly little litter in an area that is obviously well respected and much used. There are huge, ancient cottonwoods everywhere. The elevation is about 3500.
The road in is rather boring, but there are many side trails to explore. Mines are common in the area. There is copper, silver and iron. Camping opportunities abound.
A couple of outfits are at work in the area, mining the old mine tailings for landscape rock while cleaning up. They seem like decent people.
To get there, go to the Circle K store in Mayer. Directly across 69 is the beginning of Copper Road. The road forks within 100 feet of the highway. The right leads to a trailer neighborhood. The left is Copper road. Pavement ends, lock the hubs here. The most used road is plain for several miles until you reach Stoddard Road turning off to the right. There is a sign. Stay left there. Stoddard Road on the right leads to a ranch with a gate. 3 or 4 miles further on the left fork brings you to the river area and a lot of mines to explore. We found the old foundations of what must have been the processing center for the mines in the area. There must have been as many as 100 people employed there in the not too distant past.
The stream is clean and unspoiled. Except for a few tire tracks, it is unlittered and beautiful. We saw very little of cans, broken glass, or other signs of disrespect. It is a great place to visit. I will definitely return.
