Way Down Upon The Swansea

I know what you're thinking: Ha! He spelled Suwanee wrong. And he doesn't even know it's not in Arizona. But no-I really did mean Swansea, the town site, not the river. It went from a vital mining town producing 50 tons or copper ore a day when it was an upstart in 1910 to a bankrupt operation a year later. There was plenty of ore, and they built the infrastructure needed to move the ore to market, but the operators spent so much of their revenue and resources on building the town, that the mines never were fully developed in time to save the operation. By 1937, it was already a ghost town. And what a fascinating spot it is. It is as though time froze. Mineral outcroppings still stick out of the ground and it is a rock hounds heaven. Even the old town dump was a "gold mine"- old glass bottles, tin cans, stoves, everything that made the town tick is still laying in the desert for one and all to see. A self registration kiosk provides a map and flyer so you can take a self guided tour. The property is enormous. We had only about an hour and a half to explore since we rode the quads all the way from Brenda....and we weren't gonna trip all the way home in the dark this time. Here are some images from another great ride and another great site we explored in the desert: