Mining Towns

I%26#39;m considering a drive through southern New Mexico and wonder which of the following towns would give me the best perspective on gold mining in New Mexico: Silver City, Mogollon, Hillsboro, Mudgap, Socorro and Cloudcroft. Anyone have suggestions?

Mining Towns

Mogollon would be my first choice, then Hillsboro. Silver City is still somewhat of a mining town with an active mine, but is a nice town. Keep in mind that Mogollon is not accessible in the winter. Also, I think they all mined silver, but I%26#39;m not sure.

Socorro and Cloudcroft are not really mining towns, and I%26#39;ve never been to Mudgap.

hth

Mining Towns

Colin%26#39;s covered it pretty well.

At one point there was some gold mining in and around Mogollon; the (slightly) larger town of Glenwood, which is near Mogollon, is the home of The Catwalk; it was built on top of a large iron pipe which carried water up Whitewater Canyon for the dual purpose of supplying a settlement there as well as for sluicing water down the canyon to uncover gold.

Most of the mining in southern NM was for copper, and it continues to this day. (There was some silver mined in Silver City, but that was a very long time ago.) You can see one of the world%26#39;s largest open pit copper mines at Santa Rita, a few miles from Silver City-- but other than a scenic overlook, there isn%26#39;t much you can view up close and personal.

One other note: from what I can discern from a Google search, no online references to Mudgap, NM were in existence before early March of this year. I have never heard of the town, the mountains, the river and the steam railway mentioned on the Mudgap website-- which conveniently omits any map or directions to the town.

It looks like someone is attempting to perpetrate some sort of hoax by posting queries about the town on various travel sites. The queries usually mention gold mining and sometimes mention the steam train that supposedly runs from Las Cruces. I have lived in Silver City, less than two hours from Las Cruces, for nearly six years and I can guarantee that if such a place existed I would have heard of it, and tourists passing through my shop would have asked about it.

I have a recent edition of ';New Mexico Place Names,'; which lists just about every ';place'; that has had a name in the history of New Mexico, and I too cannot find any Mudgap, New Mexico. Is it April Fool%26#39;s Day? ;-)

If you are visiting Mogollon, I would advise you that the road up to it, is very narrow, with many blind corners, albeit paved. If cliffside roads don%26#39;t bother you, that is fine, but they do me (especially on the outside, coming back down. Just take it extra slow, and cautiously. This may not pertain to you, but this is certainly not a road for any kind of large RV, or a trailer of any size.

As Mitch mentioned, the ';Catwalk'; east of Glenwood is worth a visit. It is a very nice nature walk from the parking area to the entrance onto the Catwalk, which is attached to the cliffside.

I think Mudgap is fiction! Never heard of it and have lived in the NM/CO area for close to 50 years!

Socorro is a wonderful small town to visit. Great mineral museum at the university and west of there is Magdalena and Kelly, mining towns. Also near there is the Very Large Array.

You might find this website interesting.

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nm/nm.html

Some are still accessible, some are not.

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