KOFA, New Years Weekend 2022

[azmojave]

12-31-22, 01-01-23, 01-02-23
King of Arizona (KOFA) Wildlife Refuge is a huge area set aside for big horn sheep and pronghorn, with tons of old mines, cabins and trails. This is my second trip and I still haven’t seen it all. We did about 150 miles offroad and camped two nights. Once again the JT and trailer worked perfect. Enjoy the pics!
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/kofa/visit-us/locations/kofa-national-wildlife-refuge

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[azmojave]

We started out with a guided tour of Castle Dome Mine. Very cool private land. Read about it here:
http://castledomemuseum.org/

 

[azmojave]

They took us down to the 150 ft level for a look at a special room that glows under black lights. It was amazing.

The bottom of this pic shows what the rock looks like without black lights

 

[azmojave]

More pics around the mine
Castle Dome in the background.

They said this old generator produced a megawatt of power. That’s a lot

We also saw the oldest pairs of Levi’s ever found. They were found in the mine and are from the late 1800’s. I guess they’re worth ALOT of money.

 

[azmojave]

Next we took a trail to Big Eye Mine to camp out. We found a great spot and had the whole place to ourselves.

 

[azmojave]

The next morning we hiked up to Big Eye Mine and took a peak inside. There’s also an old cabin in pretty good shape

 

[azmojave]

Big Eye Mine

 

[azmojave]

We then drove quite a ways, enjoying the scenery and other mines. The trails aren’t hard, but they can be narrow and sketchy with washouts and tippy spots.

 

[azmojave]

More scenery

This jack wagon couldn’t drive any further so he parked in the middle of the trail and went on a hike. Don’t do that! Park to the side. After honking for a few minutes he showed up and we got through to see another mine and find a campsite.

 

[azmojave]

 

[azmojave]

The next day we had a lot of driving to do so we got going early. Made it home about 5pm.

There’s a lot of signs telling you where you can and cannot go. This was my favorite. No Vespa’s! Or is that a Cushman?

 

[azmojave]

We found the old homestead with a saguaro cactus lined driveway. No buildings left though.

 

[azmojave]

My last point of interest was Royal Arch. Pretty cool

The way out was pretty easy but I really had to pay attention. A couple times I had to slam on the brakes because of a washout across the road that I couldn’t see til the last second. Then there were a few long water/mud sections that made me glad to have mud tires. You never know when you might need them!

 

[jimboAZ]

Thanks for sharing! Great pics, looked like a fun adventure!

 

[Jglad15]

Looks awesome! What kind of tear drop do you have? Starting to look for something, but seems like all the newer stuff will really break your wallet.

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