Gold in the Hills: The Forgotten Mines of Cave Creek

When you drive through Cave Creek today, it's easy to notice the Western influence.

Saloons. Horses. Old mining references. Weathered signs. Buildings that seem determined not to look too polished.

But the mining part of Cave Creek's identity isn't something invented later to give the town an Old West personality.

There really was gold in these hills.

And if you know where to look, pieces of that mining story are still around us.

Prospectors Come to Cave Creek

The Town of Cave Creek traces the modern community's beginnings to 1870, when a military road brought increased travel through the area.

It didn't take long for prospectors to follow.

Gold discoveries helped establish the Cave Creek Mining District during the 1870s, and prospectors began searching the mountains and foothills surrounding what would eventually become the Town of Cave Creek.

They weren't looking only for gold.

Historic records for the Cave Creek Mining District describe deposits containing gold, copper, silver, lead and several other minerals.

Gold and copper, however, became the district's most important commercial products.

Mining never turned Cave Creek into another enormous Western boomtown.

But it became important enough to help attract settlers, investment and businesses into an area that was still remote Arizona Territory.

The Mines North of Town

One of the most interesting places to see Cave Creek's mining history today is somewhere many people now visit for a completely different reason.

Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area.

Today, Spur Cross Ranch is known for hiking, horseback riding, archaeology, wildlife and the riparian environment surrounding Cave Creek.

But beginning in the late 1800s, prospectors and miners also worked this landscape.

The Town of Cave Creek identifies several historic mines within what is now the conservation area, including the Maricopa, Phoenix, Mashackety and Catherine mines.

That's worth remembering the next time you're hiking there.

The trails aren't passing through untouched wilderness where humans suddenly arrived in modern times.

People have interacted with this landscape for centuries, for very different reasons.

Indigenous peoples lived and traveled through the area long before American settlement. Later came prospectors, miners and ranchers. Eventually the land became a guest ranch and, much later, a protected conservation area.

The landscape has many layers of history.

The Golden Reef Mine

Another important piece of Cave Creek's mining story lies on Continental Mountain, north of town.

The site that eventually became known as the Golden Reef Mine was being prospected during the 1870s.

According to historical material preserved by the Cave Creek Museum, William B. Hellings became involved with mining on Continental Mountain in the 1870s.

By 1878, Hellings had financed a ten-stamp mill and mining operation then known as the Golden Star Mine.

By the 1890s, the property was known as the Golden Reef.

Mining operations changed owners and equipment over the years. Another ten-stamp mill and an aerial tramway were installed during a later period of activity in the early 20th century.

The operation never became a giant mine on the scale of some of Arizona's famous mining districts.

But one extraordinary piece of it survives.

And you can still watch it operate.

What Exactly Is a Stamp Mill?

Getting gold-bearing rock out of a mountain is only the beginning.

The valuable mineral still has to be separated from all the rock surrounding it.

That's where a stamp mill came in.

Imagine a row of enormous mechanical hammers repeatedly lifting and dropping onto chunks of ore.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The objective was to crush the rock into much smaller material so the gold could be separated during subsequent processing.

It was loud, heavy industrial machinery doing extremely physical work.

And Cave Creek has one that still runs.

The Golden Reef Stamp Mill Lives Again

The Cave Creek Museum's Golden Reef Stamp Mill was relocated from the Golden Reef Mine on Continental Mountain to the museum grounds, only about five miles from its original location.

The restored mill contains ten 1,000-pound stamps.

The museum describes it as Arizona's only fully operational ten-stamp ore-crushing mill.

During scheduled demonstrations, those massive stamps operate again, pounding ore just as this type of machinery did during Arizona's mining era.

For anyone trying to imagine what mining around Cave Creek actually sounded like, this may be the closest experience available.

You don't simply look at an old piece of machinery behind glass.

You hear it.

The Arizona Gold Mining Experience

The museum has turned its mining collection into something particularly useful for visitors who want to understand the process rather than simply see artifacts.

During scheduled Arizona Gold Mining Experience programs, visitors can learn about hard-rock mining, ore extraction, tramways, ore carts and processing.

The Golden Reef Stamp Mill is the centerpiece, but the museum also interprets other technologies used by miners, including the arrastre, an older method of crushing ore using a heavy dragging stone.

There are also mining and agricultural artifacts displayed around the museum's outdoor campus.

Check the museum's current calendar before visiting because demonstrations occur on scheduled dates rather than continuously.

Mining Helped Shape the Community

It's tempting to think of mining history entirely in terms of gold production.

But mines created other needs.

Miners needed food.

They needed tools and equipment.

They needed transportation.

They needed water.

They needed places to live.

Mining activity therefore contributed to the larger process of settlement in the Cave Creek area alongside ranching, military travel and other economic activity.

The Town of Cave Creek's history still describes the community's beginnings as rooted in both mining and ranching.

Those weren't themes added to Cave Creek later.

They were part of how the modern community developed.

There's Even Mining History on Black Mountain

The mining story isn't limited to the country north of town.

Historic mining also occurred around Black Mountain.

The Town of Cave Creek's historical material identifies the Mormon Girl Mine on Black Mountain and notes that it produced a mixture of minerals including gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc.

That's another reason Black Mountain deserves more than a quick glance.

Its geology didn't just create a distinctive landmark.

It also attracted people hoping to find valuable minerals beneath its slopes.

Can You Visit the Old Mines?

This is where curiosity needs to be balanced with common sense.

Do not enter abandoned mine shafts, tunnels or workings.

Old mines can contain unstable rock, vertical shafts, poor air quality, animals and other hazards that aren't obvious from the entrance.

Some historic mining sites are also on private property or in areas where access is restricted.

Finding an old mine symbol on a map is not an invitation to explore underground.

A much better way to experience Cave Creek's mining history is through places where public access is established and the history can be interpreted safely.

Start with the Cave Creek Museum.

Then explore Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area, where the broader mining, ranching, archaeological and natural history of the landscape can be experienced from the managed trail system.

The Desert Has a Way of Taking Things Back

One of the fascinating things about old mining country is how quickly human ambition can disappear into the landscape.

A mine that once required workers, machinery, roads, buildings and investment can eventually become little more than a depression in a hillside, scattered stone or rusting equipment.

The desert slowly takes over again.

Saguaros grow nearby.

Creosote fills disturbed ground.

Trails replace work roads.

A landscape once viewed primarily in terms of what could be extracted from it eventually becomes valuable because people want to preserve it.

Spur Cross is perhaps the best local example of that transformation.

Listen for the Echo

The next time you look toward the mountains north of Cave Creek, imagine them more than a century ago.

No subdivisions.

No paved Cave Creek Road.

No restaurants waiting for you when you came back into town.

Somewhere on Continental Mountain, miners were drilling and hauling rock.

And when the stamp mill started running, the repeated pounding of enormous metal stamps crushing ore could carry across the surrounding landscape.

Today that sound is gone from the mountain.

But on certain days at the Cave Creek Museum, the Golden Reef Stamp Mill runs again.

For a few minutes, you can hear an echo of the Cave Creek that came before us.

And suddenly all those mining references around town make a little more sense.

Sources and More Information

Town of Cave Creek - Cave Creek History

Town of Cave Creek - Spur Cross Ranch

Cave Creek Museum

Cave Creek Museum - Golden Reef Stamp Mill and Outdoor Exhibits

Maricopa County Parks - Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area History