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APRIL 2022
All Roads Lead To
www.GlobeMiamiTimes.com
Globe-Miami
Exploring Highway 77, Tucson to Globe photos and story by David Abbott
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olcanic activity and millennia of erosion from wind and water shaped east-central Arizona over the course of millions of years. Through this region runs one of southern Arizona’s most scenic stretches of highway – Arizona State Highway 77 between Globe and Tucson. Over the course of geologic history, natural forces have also made the area one of the richest in valuable minerals – including, of course, king copper. Mining these resources has further reshaped the landscape in the past two centuries. Not only is the region rich in minerals, but it is rich in Arizona history. Small desert communities such as Oracle, San Manuel, Mammoth, Winkelman and Hayden offer a glimpse into the past – as well as recreational opportunities for visitors and Arizonans who love the natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert.
What to See To the northeast of Tucson, past Catalina and Oracle Junction, Biosphere 2 still stands as a monument to Earth sciences, and a seemingly innocent time when society had a more expansive view of the universe and our place in it. Built between 1988 and 1991, Biosphere 2 was originally intended as an experimental self-sustaining community. It was hoped that the lessons of the experiment would assist in outer space exploration and the possible colonization of other planets. The University of Arizona purchased the 312-acre science lab in 2011 and opened it to the public. You can visit from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day of the year except Christmas and Thanksgiving. Go to biosphere2.org for details about ticket prices and tours. Oracle, a short distance from Biosphere 2, combines the elements of a hip art enclave and outdoors Arizona in a fairly remote region – what Tucsonans call the “backside” of Mount Lemmon, at the northeastern foot of the Santa Catalina Mountains. With several good restaurants, Oracle is a great place for a day trip. Start with breakfast at the Oracle Patio Cafe, which features homemade pies. Indoor dining is still on hold due to the pandemic, but there’s plenty of room on the patio. For dinner, try the Ore House Hilltop Tavern, surrounded by mining remnants and sculptures, offering good bar food and 16 beers on tap. For the recreationally minded, Oracle is an Arizona Trail Gateway Community, and Oracle State Park offers miles of trails in an out-of-the-way and low-traffic area. History buffs will want to visit the historic Kannally House, part of the state park, affording a glimpse back at the lives of early ranchers in the region. The house was built between 1929 and 1932 and stood at the heart of what was at one time a 50,000-acre cattle ranch, established in 1903.
An even older frontier home – turned B&B – is the Triangle L Ranch, part of the “Boot Ranch” established in the 1880s by rancher Charlie Moss. The house, built in 1903, is now an “art ranch” featuring ongoing art exhibits and more. For the adventurous, try out the ziplines at Arizona Zipline Adventures, off-road vehicle rentals with Titan Power Rentals, and even caving at Peppersauce Caves, a series of wild underground caverns that have not been developed. Spelunk at your own risk. As an International Dark Sky Park, Oracle State Park is a great place to be at night. Stargazing is at a premium, and the Milky Way is on display most nights. For a taste of Oracle’s night sky, consider attending the Earth Day event on April 23 to celebrate the seven-year anniversary of the park obtaining its dark sky designation. The all-day celebration will feature hikes, workshops, tours and, of course, stargazing after dark. Go to azstateparks.com/oracle/ events/earth-day-event-at-oracle for details. East of Oracle is San Manuel, a living museum of the boom-and-bust cycles of the copper industry. The Magma Copper Company built the town when it began mining copper in the early 1950s, and before long Magma was the largest copper mine in North America. The company town has the distinction of being the first Del E. Webb planned community. Webb was at one time co-owner of the New York Yankees baseball club, but his true claim to fame was as a visionary post-war developer in Arizona. San Manuel thrived for decades through several ownership changes at the mine, but that all came crashing down in 2002 when BHP Billiton abruptly halted operations and shut the mine down. In one horrific day, BHP laid off somewhere between 2,500 and 3,000 people, devastating the town’s economy in one fell swoop. “It was horrible,” says Kathy Phipps, a 50year San Manuel resident who volunteers at the San Manuel Historical Society Museum. “The only thing that got us through it was the way we all came together as a community and helped our neighbors.” On Jan. 18, 2007, BHP demolished two 500-foot-tall smokestacks that had towered over the community for decades, marking a profound metaphoric end to the age of copper in San Manuel. Still, when BHP departed, turning off the pumps and leaving the mine to fill with water, it left a large copper deposit behind. Nowadays, visitors can take advantage of the remote desert of the area around San Manuel. Off-road vehicle rentals are available through Peppersauce Motorsports. San Manuel is home to the annual San Manuel Copper Classic off-road motorcycle race, which brings people from all over the country.
Dennis and Kathy Phipps volunteer at the San Manuel Historical Society Museum. They’ve lived in San Manuel for more than 50 years and experienced Magma shutting down the mine due to a crash of the copper market in 2002.
