Portal, AZ - Rodeo, NM

Six hikers met in Portal and drove to Paradise, headed for the Chiricahua Mine. 

The northern part of the Chiricahua Mountains was prospected for precious metals prior to 1870, but due to Apache activity mining was not practical at that time. Once the reservation was abolished in 1878, mining activities became common. The mining area here was called the California or Chiricahua District. The first big, but short-lived strike, was at Galeyville, near Paradise, where some 80,000 pounds of lead and 13,717 ounces of silver, with minor amounts of copper and gold, were removed in 1881 and early 1882. Other areas, like the Chiricahua Mine that we visited, were not worked extensively until the 1900's.  The Chiricahua Mine operated mainly between 1900 and 1920, and silver,  copper and lead were harvested. The Hilltop mine, the main producer of the district, was first operated in 1903, but did not become a major source of ore until later years. The yearly production from the entire district seldom exceeded a few thousand tons of ore.  This is probably a good thing or our area might look like Bisbee!

Once there was a road from Paradise to the Chiricahua Mine but it is long gone. The Horseshoe II Fire in 2011, and Hurricane Odile in 2014, reconfigured the narrow canyon that the once housed the road, and later more of a trail, to the mine. Once we walked on a pleasant, shaded trail to the old mine, but today one walks mostly in a rock creek bottom, often fighting through vegetation that is sometimes intent on grabbing and cutting you. At times you can find the old road and walk on it. But we had fun. 🙃 We always have fun, even though the definition of that word changes from hike to hike.

Below you can see what our terrain looked like. The hike was only four miles round trip, but it took awhile to accomplish this. There was a slight increase in elevation, but not much; the Chiricahua Mine is at 6400’.

There were rewards along the way, such as this stunning view of Silver Peak. We really enjoyed the lighting.

We explored the mine area a bit and then had lunch near an amazing stone wall that looks like it once housed a two story building with machinery. It is a tribute to the builders that this wall still stands! The thought of hauling all the mining equipment almost two miles up a rough road to this location was sobering. You can also see one of the mine shafts below. Two hikers traveled a very short distance into the shaft but they couldn’t go far before encountering a collapse.  There is lots of mining debris in this area, as well as pits and mine tailings. We wondered how many men had been at this location at its heyday. 

Next week, on Thursday, December 4, we will explore Jhus Canyon. This hike involves walking on an old road at first, and then ends up, like so many other hikes, walking through brushy areas and over logs. This is another hike we would like to recover with some trail work. After the hike there may be an opportunity to search for an old grave on the Whitetail Prairie. Meet at the corner of Foothills and Portal Roads at 9:00 a.m. Bring the usual: good shoes, lunch, sunscreen, water, a hat and appropriate layers for the weather. New hikers are always welcome. You can usually turn around at any time.

Happy trails!

Report and photos by Carol