Clifton and Morenci.....On one of our days off we drove to Clifton and Morenci and came home via the Black Hills Byway....not the South Dakota Black Hills the ones down here.  Clifton and Morenci are old copper mining towns.   This area is a little higher in elevation and as you drive north on Hwy 191 you end up in the Apache National Forest, pine trees and snow.  This is one of North America's largest producers of copper and one of the largest open pit mines in the world. 

As the mine grew the town of Morenci was blasted away or buried under mine waste.  We found this old Catholic cemetery.  Notice the graves into the side of the hill.  This cemetery is all that remains of the original town.

graves range from the 1880's to 1930's

Note the wooden cross

The old town of Clifton was established in 1873.  There is an old historic section of the town plus a new area.  Interesting history here.  They say Clifton was once a tougher town than Tombstone.

Views on Chase Creek the old street in old Clifton

The route we were on is only a part of the old Coronado Trail.  It is believed the Coronado (Spanish explorerer) traveled this route in 1540 in search of the fabled 7 cities of Cibalo or 7 cities of gold.  Elevation ranges from 3400' to over 9300'.   On our way home we took the Black Hills Backcountry Byway.  This is a 21 mile gravel road from Clifton to just outside of Safford that is part of Arizona's scenic routes.  Lots of scenery on this road and rocks!  Al just loves those rocks....hehe.

This byway was built by prisoners from 1914 to 1920.  It travels through different elevations of land that was used for mining and ranching.  The rock was created by lava flows and deposits of volcanic tuff, cinder, and pumice.  The vegetation ranged from cacti to oak trees.