Mother's Day Meandering

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Nothing says "Happy Mother's Day" like a numerous hour drive to places we've never visited, along bumpy, dusty roads with my family. I think a new tradition has been born! Jeff had plans for me to go watch a movie by myself; enjoy some ME time, eat a quiet dinner while I read a book. Or something along those lines. But after breakfast I decided I really wanted to go on a drive. We had a rental car for a few days while our gas guzzling truck was in the shop, so taking a drive at this moment was even more appealing. I found a drive not too far from us that was touted as the most scenic drive in the area, according to a couple different websites. We headed south on I-19 and then exited onto Ruby Road. Ruby Road is a 2 lane paved road until you pass Peña Blanca Lake, which is about 9miles after exiting I-19. Once pavement turned to dirt, we stopped at White Rock Campground, which is a part of the Coronado National Forest, to stretch our legs, use the bathroom and let the girls run around for a little bit. Aside from 1 RV, the place was empty. It's not far from the lake, sits against a mountain, tons of shade trees. It seemed like it would be a nice place to escape to and easily accessible.



Once we started back on the road, we passed a sign that said "TRAVEL CAUTION Smuggling and Illegal Immigration May Be Encountered in This Area". The road quickly narrowed and became rocky and rutted and desolate. The road snaked it's way up the side of the mountain, switchback after slow switchback. Breathtaking vistas greeted us. Rolling hills, mountains, bright, blue skies and the sound of quiet surrounded us. We only passed 3 other vehicles the whole time, each going the opposite direction as us. Unless you count Border Patrol vehicles. We saw about 10 of them plus a helicopter. I assume many more were in the hills watching us. In our bright yellow Kia Soul rental vehicle. At one point, for what seemed a significant portion of our journey, the road shrunk to barely enough for 2 cars; more like 1.5. There was one moment where we were driving along the steep cliff, no guardrails and around a blind corner and out of nowhere, a Border Patrol truck popped into sight. About a car length in front of us. They swerved towards the wall, we stayed firm near the edge.



After that unwanted thrill, I was ready to go faster than 20mph and not be on the verge of plunging to an unpleasant death. Before heading on our journey, I read about the ghost town of Ruby that was nearby. 4 miles north of the Mexico border. But the website I read stated it was private and not opened to the public. Bummer, that would've been so neat to see! We turned a corner and over THERE, in the middle of freaking nowhere, was a grouping of buildings! Then a handwritten sign that read "Ruby". The gate was open and there was a sign stating the visiting hours. We got to go to a ghost town after all!



We pulled through the gate and drove down the road, where we were pointed to "check in with the Caretaker". We curled up a steep, overgrown driveway and pulled up next to an RV. There we were greeted by the keeper. He collected the entrance fee ($12 cash only), gave us some maps, chatted for a while and sent us on our way. After that, we drove around town where we could, got out, explored and talked about what living life there would've been like. Ruby, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is an old mining town and was the largest mining camp in the area at the turn of the 20th century. There were stores, a school, jail, homes, a hospital. At the height of occupation, it's thought that 1200 people lived there. Around 1940, it closed and the people left. I found this website chocked full of great info http://exploringoffthebeatenpath.com/GhostTowns/RubyAZ/index.html (check out the slide!!). Aside from the caretaker, we were the only people in town. A couple vehicles left right after we got there. We were able to go inside the school and some of the other structures, peering in the doors and windows. There was lots of equipment still intact, though rusty. The small jailhouse sat perched on a hill. You can visit the cemetery in town also, but we didn't quite find our way to one. Some of the roads looked steep and overgrown and we weren't sure if some of them were actually roads. There are no facilities in Ruby, but there is an outhouse. The hill where the mining took place is slowly collapsing so we didn't go anywhere near that. Apparently a colony of 150,000 Mexican free tail bats have taken up home in the collapsed mine shafts and can be seen May through September on their nightly emerging flight at sundown. You can stay and witness this event, but we didn't. It sounds like it would be amazing to see! In the info paper given to us by the caretaker, there is mention of mountain lion, deer & javelina in the area. We saw large paw prints in the tailings sand leading to the lake. We were uncertain if they were from a mountain lion, but perhaps. I'm not sure if it was the quietness, the solitude, the fact that Jeff was nonchalantly letting the kids run around and play in the "sand" which was really mine tailings until I put an end to it (boring Mom, I know) or if it was the eeriness of the place; but I started to get uneasy and was ready to leave.



After exploring the town we got back onto the dirt road, which at some point had turned into FR39, though I never saw a sign for that or the prior AZ289 once the pavement ended. Heading out of Ruby, the road widened up, we saw happy free grazing, roaming cows. Eventually dirt turned into pavement but the road was the most potholed riddled road I have ever seen. Ripping that road up and making it dirt again seemed more logical. It was bad! Eventually we entered the town of Arivaca, headed eastward along Arivaca Rd to continue our loop back to highway and back home. If it hadn't of been so late by then, we would've stopped to check out Arivaca. It seemed like a neat town to explore. Perhaps another trip is in order, but this time the quick, paved route.

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Photos

Sovako Lake
1 of the lakes in Ruby

sign for Ruby
Look hard or you'll miss it

Allen/Sullivan House & Eddy House
occupied by a chemist & a shifter at the mill, respectively

tailings angel
I wasn't very fond of the kids playing in what Jeff kept calling sand. When really it is ore tailings from the mine.

Comments

[Kamp]

A Honest to Goodness Ghost Town!
We have them all over Montana and I love going to them! Sounds like a great mother's day to me! :)

[HeatherLauren]

Fun!
Sounds like a fun trip. I'd rather go on a road trip than anything else, too.. it's always fun to see what's out there. Thanks- I've never heard of Ruby before. I love ghost towns! I may have to try this trip in a day or two.

[in the blink of an eye]

You totally should go! And do the loop, not just to arivaca, ruby, and back. Some sites I read said you needed high clearance vehicle, but we were in a Kia soul and had no problem.