Sometimes the temptation to go ghost towning and exploring abandoned mine shafts is overwhelming. On a family road trip from Vegas to the Grand Canyon I couldn’t help but to whip out the topo map and take a peek. Just north of King-man AZ I found the Cerbat Mountains, the Cerbat Valley and the town of Cerbat itself. Surrounding Cerbat where a countless supply of mine shafts dating before the 1870’s.
The adventure
A short distance from the highway we dove into the Cerbat Valley to the ruins of a fairly modern mining operation. A few standing cinder-block buildings and a massive yet collapsed milling operation. Search the web and you will find photos of the Goliath structure standing only a few years ago. Right around the corner we found the Idaho and Golden Gem mines. We climbed up the hill and peered down the bottomless Idaho, sitting in the shadow of the Golden Gem’s gigantic tailings. The Idaho Mine history ore-dates 1871 documentation. A few years ago there existed a decent sized stamp mill at the Golden Gem, but now only foundation remains.
Regrets
Had we more time and more sunlight I would have continued into the canyon to explore the cemetery, the town proper, and all of the other structures clearly visible from google earth. Not to mention the dozens upon dozens of mines. A real gold mining junkies dream.
If you liked this post or plan to explore Cerbat or you have been there please leave a comment below!
