Mountains between Kingman and Bullhead City
Chloride and the Murals
Northwest Arizona has a number of "ghost towns." We visited Chloride and Oatman for our spring break in April, 1996.Chloride is the least developed. It really is not a ghost town or 1860's mining camp, as is advertized, but is a living, somewhat "artsy-craftsy" community that is comfortable with its past. We missed the melodrama and gunfights, but there are plenty of low key shops with arts and crafts, as well as "antiques," but don't look for anything special. Oatman is spread out and has plenty of outdoors. That might be its best attraction. The well known murals, painted by a then miner but now well known Las Vegas Artist, are also an attraction, but, short of the shows we missed, the most fun we had in Chloride was hiking the dirt trails and bushwhacking across the desert.
Inside Grand Canyon Caverns
A pleasant hours drive north of Kingman on Route 66 takes you through a few crossroads and rolling country rising to the mountains bordering the Grand Canyon takes you to Grand Canyon Caverns. This cave differs from many popular ones like Carlsbad and Mammoth in that it is a dry cave. That is, water stopped actively passing through, forming the cave long ago. It is also not as humid as other caves we have visited. The tour is worthwhile. The cave is privately owned. The owners know there are deeper caverns and plan to dig them out and explore them in the next few years. The catch is, being private, they will need to close for the exploration. Hence no new revenue. They need to build up a sum so they can pay for the exploration.
Paul and a Burro
Oatman is called a ghost town. It is a tourist stop on Route 66. The drive there through the mountains is nice, but once you are there you encounter two types of tourists - people and burros. Both are looking for bargains. The street is lined with tourist shops, restaurants and burros. All of them want something from you. Not much is really authentic. They do stage gunfights and parades, but there were none when we were there.
Down Grapevine Canyon
The road over Christmas Tree Pass leads from Nevada State Highway 163 to US Route 95 over a dirt road that can be travelled by any car. The road leads up a narrowing canyon alonfside jagged granite mountains. There are a few side roads to explore as well. The main sid road leads to the trailhead leading up Grapevine Canyon. The canyon features a small perennieal stream. The stram stops as soon as it leaves the canyon, next to a panel of petroglyphs. The trail scrambles across the creek several times as it climbs around and over boulders. Grapevines border the creek at its lower levels. Tall Grasses border the creek at middle elevations and a few willows and small cottonwoods border the creek befre the canyon narrows to a tight crawl. The views down the canyon are great.
Along Christmas Tree Pass Road
Return to Short Trips Page
©1996