This is the first in an occasional series about ghost towns in the American West and the gravel roads leading to them. With SCOTT gravel guru Yuri Hauswald as our guide, we'll explore these historic roads and towns hidden among the mountains and deserts.
ghost town (pronounced /ˈɡōs(t) ˌtoun/) noun: ghost town; plural noun: ghost towns. Definition: An abandoned or deserted village, town, or city, with few or no remaining inhabitants. Usually contains substantial visible remains. Often resulting from failure of the economic activity that supported it, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, prolonged droughts, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, pollution, or nuclear disasters.
Riders who live in cold climates will tell you that seeking a midwinter escape from the cold and snow is often an annual ritual. For example, winter-weary Europeans looking for a few days of pedaling in sunshine and warmth might find their way to South Africa, Mallorca, southern Spain, or even the Middle East. And in the US, typical destinations for road and mountain bike riders might include southern California, Arizona, Texas, or Florida.
But some riders might be looking for a different experience, new destinations, and a sense of adventure. This was exactly the case as Yuri and I scanned maps of New Mexico, Nevada, and Arizona, looking for a new place to ride and explore. Our eyes turned west and south, toward the most desolate space visible, void of the thick lines designating paved roads. We found Ruby.
The townsite of Ruby, Arizona is situated just four miles from the southern border of the United States. It’s about 50 miles south-southwest of Tucson, surrounded by the Coronado National Forest in a region marked by semi-arid desert, scrubland, and rugged, sun-bleached mountains.
Access to the Ruby townsite is only by gravel road. It’s not particularly long and it’s not in bad condition. Vehicles can certainly make the trip, but high clearance and good suspension are a must. We planned a simple pedal out to the townsite for an exploration, but the area is heavily laced with gravel side-trips of varying length and challenge for those who want more adventure.
There are two approaches. We took the longer east-to-west route. It’s a curvy, comfortably rough pedal cutting through and over the gaps in a mountainous, north-south trending spine. To the south lies Mexico, where the mountains roll onward and upward to the horizon. This scenery feels endless and spectacular. To the north lies the American desert southwest, a seemingly barren expanse of prickly vegetation and imposing lithic spires.
Despite a lifeless appearance, the region supports desert plants and range grasses along with abundant wildlife, plus mesquite, ash and oak trees. The vastness is breathtaking, and a closer look at the diverse plants, animals, and geology yields completely new appreciation for terrain that could easily be dismissed as dull and vacant.
Riding through this landscape is meditative, restorative, inspiring. Something about the solitude and silence leads to quiet thought and introspection. This area is stripped of all excess, including excess life. Only the hardiest, most robust plants and animals can survive in this dry, sun-seared environment.
Nested among these jagged hills and stony rock outcrops at an elevation of 1276 meters (4186 feet), Ruby itself is a sprawling, unconsolidated warren of gravel tracks, stone buildings, and the rusting industrial detritus of decommissioned mining operations. It’s advertised to tourists and travelers as the most well-preserved ghost town in Arizona. And a full-time groundskeeper does maintain the property for folks brave and curious enough to make the dusty, gravel road journey to get there.
From the road, basking in the golden rays of winter’s low-angle sunshine, Ruby looks like it might be an active but neglected homestead. Or it could be nothing - just abandoned piles of junk. From the road, it’s hard to tell, so we went in for a closer look.
Ruby was originally named Montana Camp because in 1877, miners were searching for gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper ore at the foot of Montana Peak. And at its peak in the mid-1930s, Ruby had a population of about 1,200.
In 1912 the mining camp's general store owner Julius Andrews established the post office. Andrews named the post office "Ruby" after his wife Lille B. Ruby Andrews, and the mining camp soon became known as Ruby. A decade later, three murders by outlaw bandits, known as the Ruby Murders, made the town infamous and led to the largest manhunt in the history of the Southwest.
The most prosperous period for Ruby was in the late 1920s and 30s, when the Eagle-Picher Mining Company operated the mine and upgraded the camp. From 1934 to 1937, the Montana mine was the top lead and zinc producer in Arizona. In 1936, it was third in silver production. The mine closed in 1940, the post office was discontinued on May 31, 1941 and by the end of 1941 Ruby was abandoned.
Today, the best-preserved buildings are the old schoolhouse, the jail, and a few mining structures. Pedaling between the ruins, it’s hard to imagine a bustling community of miners and townsfolk, scraping out existence in the heart of the desert.
But the human instinct to seek and explore brought people to this place, 100 years ago. And this same instinct brought me and Yuri here, 100 years later, to see for ourselves the ghostly remnants of this abandoned community.
And the dusty, nearly deserted gravel road to Ruby is a perfect gateway to this long-forgotten ghost town.
Gravel leads to places most people don't ever see.
