Return to Hayden/Winkelman, Arizona in Search of Other Old Mine Sites

In 2006, I revisited some of the old mines that I had been to while growing up in the Hayden/Winkelman area of Central Arizona. In February of 2007, I went out to several others.

The first two mines are located in sand washes that drain into the Gila River southwest of Winkelman.These mines are east of the Manriquez Claims that I described in my wanderings of 2006.

There are roads up to the old mines. But they may be more suitable for ATV's than full-sized vehicles. I was out for a walk and so parked my truck while the going was still pretty good and did a 4 mile loop to connect the two sites.

Click on Photos to Enlarge.

Mine Site 1:

Mine Site 2:

The attraction for this site was that years ago, there was still an ore car back in a haulage tunnel. It was on the other side of a winze and so maybe it was still there. Well the collapse of the tunnel and the buzzings of a Mr. Rattlesnake kept me from really getting too close on this trip. So the ore car may still be there.

Mine Site 3:

West of the Manriquez Claims in Hackberry Wash is the Hackberry Mine. It consists of a flooded tunnel, a stone building that once housed an old Ingersoll Rand Compress, and a tin storage building. No one that I know, knows of any production from this old mine.

Mine Sites 4, 5 and 6:

I also returned to the Dripping Spring Mountains in February at which time I walked to the Buckeye Mine, and the Alice Mine.

In 2016, I returned to the Troy smelter site and the Buckeye Mine. On that return visit I had vintage photos of the smelter and the Alice Mine. I was also more familiar with the history of the area than I was on this trip originally described here. I have written up a new report on those areas and have posted them here.

New Report on the Troy Smelter, the Buckeye Mine and the Alice Mine

After visiting the Alice Mine, I decided to head down Hackberry Canyon until I cleared the main mountain mass and then I would turn east back to my truck. I expected the walking to be strictly bushwhacking, but was surprised to stumble onto a pretty clear trail. The trail passed several cottonwood trees and continued to a couple of adits, a rock ruin, the remains of a very ornate cook stove, and several old shovels and a windlass handle. The mine area was not marked on the map and I do not know its identity.