5/27/2017 Bradshaw Grave & Copperopolis

[theksmith 3,590]

the Arizona WJ's Facebook group let me tag along on yesterday for part of their weekend campout near Wickenburg, AZ. we visited the ruins of the Copperopolis mining area, the Crown Point mine, Bradshaw's grave, and The Box.

 

 

just 3 dubs and myself - Jonathan, Chris & Sarah, and Flagstaff Jeff are all members on this site as well. not a huge turnout but still a good day on a fun route.

 

 

several sections of the main trail were much rougher than the last time i visited a few years ago. still doable with a small budget boost and aggressive tires (and a rig with 4-low). you might kiss your rock rails or bumper/hitch a couple times, and there are some steep and tippy sections that might intimidate newbies.

 

 

Chris posing on a rock as we explored a spur to "The Box":

 

 

 

Jeff found the end of the spur, at least for our group - he was dying to be able to crawl it though. you always need just another few inches, or so they say!

 

 

we took a short hike up into the canyon, despite the 90+ degree weather.

 

 

Chris mentioned parts of the terrain reminded him of the Superior area.

 

 

Sarah noticed a pterodactyl nest up high on one of the cliff faces:

 

 

i parted ways with the group as they started to circle back towards camp. i took the route down to Castle Hot Springs road, which i think they were going to run today.

 

there were rumors quite a while ago about someone buying the old hot springs resort and planning to re-open it. looks like they might be true as there's a bunch of construction going on there right now. in addition to remodeling the buildings, i noticed they had a nice new stone entry almost complete.

 

 

that about wraps it up - thanks dub-club for letting me tailgun in memory of Lafawnduh!

 

[dzJeepChic 2,320]

Looks like a fun low-key day. Thanks for sharing the pictures!

[ehall 8]

Did you access the area from snoopy trail ?

[theksmith 3,590]

Did you access the area from snoopy trail ?

 

we came in from Constellation Rd in Wickenburg, ran the trail to the grave and mines, then i came out via Buckhorn rd down to Castle Hot Springs road.

[kaspily 2]

We had a fun time with the small group from AZ WJs. Link to full photo album: https://goo.gl/photos/5z3AkpjtkmUrH4TS7

 

GPX Tracks for the loops and associated mines in the area is attached.

 

The day was hot but we had a fun time on the trail. There were some sections with some good washouts but overall this was an easy to moderate trail.

 

We climbed up above Wickenburg and had some nice views of the valley. The temps started around 75 and ended up at 94.

 

 

 

Some cool boulders to go with the views:

 

We found "spider hollow". One of the few places with shade the entire day and it was filled with with creepy spiders!

 

One of the mines. Not much left at most of the sites and very overgrown. Nice quartz rocks all over this area.

 

 

Another tippy spot for the WJs:

 

 

Lunch at Issac Bradshaw's grave:

 

 

 

Old truck that had been stripped right after our lunch spot:

 

 

We had some good steep hill climbs to get up to the Copperopolis spur trail:

 

 

Views from here did remind me of the Superior, AZ area:

 

Only building we found at Copperopolis. There were a ton of mine shafts but didn't see any sort of permanent mining camp.

 

 

We climbed a little used trail to the what the map said was the town site for Copperopolis. Nothing but a giant filled in mine shaft now.

 

 

Grave near there:

 

 

He finds a rock to park on:

 

 

We made our way out through a sandy wash that had a small trickle of water. The canyon walls provided some nice shade. It was a really pretty area.

 

 

After this the group found a camp site. There was thankfully some shade trees so we all relaxed until it got cooler.

We hung out by the fire till around 11pm and then left Jeff and Jonathan to camp for the night.

Wickenburg-Mountains-Copperopolis-Trail.gpx

[dzJeepChic 2,320]

Great pictures and trip report Sarah! Thank you for posting this!

[thatoneguyaz 0]

Was great to finally wheel with you two as well as Kris!!

[scottL 169]

Cool. Just now seeing this, looks familiar and different.. I've dined at Bradshaw's grave before but I do not remember the tippy fun stuff in the 1st 3 pics.

[ob1jeeper 448]

Looks like a fun time. Thanks for sharing..

[last great road trip 0]

looks great.