COPPER TERRITORY TOUR

What to expect Itinerary Stop At: Lavender Pit You'll first visit the Lavender Pit Lookout. Here, a mere five feet from a 900-foot-deep mine pit, the guide details mining methods and equipment. You’ll then move to another pit section showcasing remnants of leaching ponds. The guide explains how copper is extracted from ore through leaching, adding depth to your understanding of mining science. You will also delve into the socio-cultural aspects, discussing nearby closed mining communities and their historical context along with future mining prospects. This attraction offers an intricate view of mining operations, from large-scale setups to minute chemical processes, all set against the backdrop of stunning landscapes. Duration: 45 minutes Stop At: Lowell, AZ Begin your tour in Lowell, AZ by exploring Erie Street. With 1940s classic cars and vintage storefronts, this is an ideal spot for photography. Your guide will also share insights into the historical Junction Mine operations. Next, you'll move to the Shady Dell Hotel. As you drive through its parking lot, the guide will explain the historical importance and the cultural relevance of the hotel. The lot itself is filled with classic vehicles and antique artifacts. Your tour continues to Lowell School, with its copper roof and doors. The guide will share both historical information and personal stories related to the school. Another stop is at a leaching drainage ditch and its polluted waters. The guide will share stories of how this ditch was a hub for his childhood adventures. The last attraction is a drive through the Evergreen Cemetery, a nationally registered historic site. Here, the guide will educate you on the cemetery's historical background and its significance to Bisbee. Duration: 45 minutes Drive Through: Saginaw, AZ Travel the streets lined with the moved houses from the open pits. Some structures date back to the late 1800s. The houses were loaded onto flatbed trucks and moved starting in 1950. Another attraction in Saginaw is the huge Muck Rock mural on the side of an intermodal container in a residence yard. The failed Saginaw Mine headframe also peaks over a hill overlooking Saginaw. You may even see Gambel’s Quail or a daytime Javelina straggler between the homes. Duration: 5 minutes Drive Through: Galena As you trek towards the Mexico border, you’ll pass through the suburb of Galena AZ. Galena means “lead” and is made of houses built for the WW2 soldiers but there’s one street of moved homes from the open pits. The street is named after the community that was moved. You’ll pass your tour guide’s childhood home as well and learn about his childhood shenanigans in the 1970s and 1980s. Duration: 10 minutes Drive Through: Briggs Just over the hill along State Route 92 is Briggs. Named after a prominent Calumet & Arizona mine boss, Briggs provided housing for the miners working at the Briggs Mine, the Galena Mine, the Cold Mine, and the Dallas Mine. Your tour guide’s grandfather (Pop) retired as a mine boss in the Dallas Mine. Duration: 5 minutes Drive Through: Tintown Welcome to the Bisbee suburb with structures made entirely of tin at one time. The streets are all named after the families that developed Tintown and many of their great grandchildren went to Bisbee schools with your tour guide. The Bisbee Coalition for the Homeless is here with its popular greenhouse as well. Duration: 5 minutes Drive Through: Don Luis Following highway 92 along the railway built by James Douglas, you’ll see Don Luis, the suburb built by the Mexican railway builders. Luis Williams, the smelter boss for James Douglas supervised the rail construction and the builder couldn’t pronounce his name, so they called him ‘Don Luis’. While enjoying the historic homes, you’ll pass the Wensel Field (baseball and softball) where your tour guide played Peewee League baseball for Bledsoe Mauzy, a local car dealership in the 1970s. Duration: 5 minutes Drive Through: San Jose The Cochise County administration buildings are located on the western edge of town and present themselves as the main employer for the city. A trek through the houses built for soldiers leads to the stretch of road by the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station which is located across the street from where the Fort Apache Drive-In Theater was located. Duration: 10 minutes Stop At: Naco AZ Naco sits on our border with Mexico, and you first pass the Green Bush Draw that revealed wooly mammoth bones in the 1950s. You will travel past the historic golf course to the Fort Naco ruins. Fort Naco once had as many as 5500 Buffalo Soldiers protecting America’s border from the Mexican Revolutionary War. On the way to the border wall, you’ll see the buildings that were victims of the first aerial bomber in American history, Patrick Murphy. A huge Muck Rock mural of Patrick Murphy adorns the street-facing wall of the Gay 90s Bar, where Ronald and Nancy Reagan would stop annually on their way to a Naco, Sonora ranch. It’s at the Gay 90s parking lot where you will disembark the Big Jeep and walk to the border wall that sits next to the Naco Border Station. You can touch the wall, take photos, or watch the foot and vehicle traffic moving back and forth between the two countries. Duration: 30 minutes Drive Through: Bisbee Junction After leaving Naco, AZ, you’ll travel along Purdy Lane which follows the border wall and passes through Bisbee Junction. You’ll stop on the rail bed built by James Douglas and view the huge water tank that was next to the train depot that delivered passengers to and from Bisbee on the railway. After leaving Bisbee Junction, Purdy Lane turns into Arizona Street and we travel past Bisbee Airport, Dump #1 (the tailings from the Sacramento Pit), and the bed of the midget car racetrack that flourished before 1975. Duration: 10 minutes Stop At: Warren AZ From Arizona Street, you will venture into the backside of Warren, AZ. Warren is the first planned community in Arizona history and home of many attractions. One popular attraction is the oldest, multifunctional, operating ballpark in America – the Warren Ballpark. Adorned with green wooden walls and concrete/adobe grandstands, the Warren Ballpark. You’ll sit on the railbed above the Warren Ballpark where 1300 striking miners were loaded into cattle cars and deported to the New Mexico desert. The Big Jeep takes you through the bungalow style home – lined streets and visits the mine bosses’ mansions who were also responsible for deporting the miners. You’ll also see Greenway School and the very playground monkey-bars where a famous Bisbee child was struck by lightning in 1972. Duration: 30 minutes Drive Through: Bakerville Bakerville was known as the Serbian neighborhood in Bisbee and even has a Serbian Church with solid copper doors. You will travel above Bakerville to the Calumet & Arizona Hospital that overlooks Warren valley. The hospital is vacant now, but you’ll see why it’s called the haunted hospital when you drive up close to its gate and imagine the lost souls peering back at you from the multi-level windows. Duration: 5 minutes Stop At: Bisbee AZ Your tour then travels to Old Bisbee and turns to OK Street, immersing you in rich history and unique architecture. As you ascend, the guide elaborates on the street's historical significance, pausing at Joseph Muheim's house to discuss his contributions. Next, you explore Brewery Gulch, known for its blend of architecture and historical events, pausing at Muheim’s Bar for an in-depth look. You'll then move to the Lyric Theater and Central School parking lot, each offering different facets of local history and design. A stop at the Old High School provides insights into the area's educational past. The tour then ascends High Road, offering panoramic views and an extensive history lesson on Bisbee. Finally, you'll descend to Quality Hill for another layer of history and architecture before concluding on Main Street with three distinct stops that bring the area's evolving story full circle. Duration: 45 minutes Stop At: Juniper Flats The last part of your tour takes you to the top of the Mule Mountains on a dirt road that starts next to the Mule Pass Tunnel. You may see wildlife like the Coues Deer, Coatimundi, or Red-tailed Hawk along the way. Your offroad journey stops at the microwave towers used by Fort Huachuca and immediately upon departing the Big Jeep, there’s a chance to find malachite spread along the ground. From the high perch, you’ll be able to see a few hundred miles into Mexico, along with Douglas, AZ, the Huachuca Mountains, the Chiricahua Mountains, the Sulphur Springs Valley, the San Pedro Valley, the Santa Rita Mountains, the Whetstone Mountains, and the Catalina Mountains near Tucson, AZ. Duration: 50 minutes