After a leisurely breakfast Tuesday morning, we took the Spyder out of the trailer and headed to Bisbee. From the Desert Oasis Campground, it’s about an 11-mile ride although Bisbee is about six or seven miles due west as the crow flies. We headed out on Double Adobe Road then up AZ80 to town.
We hit the historic district exit and followed the main thoroughfare which becomes Tombstone Canyon Road. Historic Bisbee is situated in a narrow canyon – a gulch. On either side of Tombstone Canyon Road, the canyon walls immediately climb. The side roads are narrow switchbacks and the houses are built on terraces – many of which are accessible only by climbing concrete stairs.
House terraced on the canyon wall with stairs for access
The main commercial area occupies about a mile of Tombstone Canyon Road and is geared toward tourism. There are a number of eclectic shops and galleries along with a couple of bars and restaurants. I bought a hat in one of the shops – it’s a western cattlemen style hat with an upturned four-inch brim made of Guatemalan palm.
They hold an event every year in Bisbee called the Bisbee 1000. It’s a 4.5-mile course including more than 1000 steps up the stairs connected by winding roads. Some people enter to run the course competitively while others join in to walk/jog the course and take in the scenic views.
Bisbee 1000
Not for the faint of heart
Another thing they do at the Bisbee 1000 is hold a special competition called Ironman Ice. To compete in this you must carry a ten pound block of ice with old-fashioned tongs up the stairs.
Ironman Ice – look closely, there are three sets of stairs before you reach the top
We figured to get lunch in Bisbee and were told that the best Mexican fare would be found at Santiago’s on Brewery Avenue. When I bought the hat, the gal in the store said Santiago’s was good, but if we wanted the best Sonoran food, we should go to Contessa’s Cantina. It’s been family owned and operated for five generations and she said it’s where the locals go.
We ended up at Contessa’s Cantina and weren’t disappointed. Later, we walked past Santiago’s to go to the Old Bisbee Brewing Company. The bartender there confirmed that Santiago’s was where most tourists were happy to go, but the locals go to Contessa’s. Donna and I split a flight of samplers at the brewery and unfortunately found it lacking. None of the beers were anything special – in fact I found the brewer to be a bit heavy-handed. The IPA had a bitter aftertaste, the Mayan stout had too much chocolate and coffee lending it a bitter aftertaste too and the vanilla porter was so forward with the vanilla, Donna commented that she felt like she just drank vanilla extract.
Stairs between two businesses with beautiful murals
Bisbee is a funky little town – especially in the historic district. It was founded in 1880 and the economy was fueled by mining. The Copper Queen mine was the most successful. In the early 1900s, it was the largest copper producer in Arizona. Small amounts of gold and silver were also recovered from the mine along with a turquoise called Bisbee Blue. The population of the town topped out around 10,000 people and there are 6,000 or so here today.
There are three distinct areas of Bisbee today – the historic district, the San Juan district which is more modern and has shopping centers and the Warren district which was the first planned community in Arizona. It was originally conceived as a suburb for executive and management level people in the mining industry. There’s another area called Lowell that’s now reduced to just a a few streets as the area was dug out by the Lavender pit mine.
The Lavender pit was named after Harrison Lavender – vice president of mining giant Phelps Dodge in 1950. The pit produced 86 million tons of ore and covers 300 acres. The pit has steep walls and is 900 feet deep.
View of Lavender pit from AZ80 looking southwest
Looking east at the Lavender pit
After two nights here in the desert, we’re ready to move on. Our plan is to head into New Mexico on AZ80 which becomes NM80 as we cross the stateline. We’ll lose an hour as we enter the Mountain Time Zone. We have a few options for our destination for the day – we plan to put in 200-250 miles and find a place to boondock for the night.
Our last Sonoran desert sunset – until next time
We should see warm temperatures and clear skies. The wind is forecast to come from the southwest, so we’ll have a tailwind component and hopefully no worries about crosswind gusts.