Elevation: 3992' -4026'
Significance: adobe ruins, old stampmill
Trail head access: east side of San Pedro River, 1/4 mile from bridge on Charleston Road.
Follow San Pedro River trail north until you reach wash, then turn west on wash to river. Cross river and look for adobe ruins.
Charleston was once a bustling mill town for Tombstone ten miles away, but the town quickly died when the mines in Tombstone flooded and closed down. By 1899 there was nothing left of the town as everyone had left to seek their fortune elsewhere. All that is left now are stone walls of the mill, and adobe ruins of Charleston, hidden by mature mesquite across the river on the opposite bank.
It's not easy to find the ruins. The secret is finding a safe path to get to these ruins, as there are no signs and no designated trail to get there. The land is under the care of the Bureau of Land Management. There is no fee to hike here.
Wednesday looked like a good day and we agreed to get together early for this hike. I hadn't been back there in almost a decade; it was time I walked through there again. I brought Zeke and Minnie on this hike. The river alone is a nice place for both man and dog. I've taken many solitary walks north along the river bank with Sammy and Sara years ago.
We met at 6am by the Fry's Foods in town and drove separately to the marked Millville parking area nine miles away, on the east side of the San Pedro River. It was still cool and overcast as we began our hike north on the San Pedro River trail before cutting sharply to the west via a wash. This wash took us to a popular railroad overpass that is now heavily spray-painted. We have to go through the tunnel
to get to the river which we had to cross to get to the Charleston ruins. The tunnel makes for a cool, refreshing rest break on hot days. The "art" always changes here.
The river was low here and we were able to ford across effortlessly. The river here during the monsoon can get high, so coming here before the forecasted rain this weekend was a good idea. The old ruins of Charleston are on the western banks of the river, but there are no signs indicating where to go. People interested in exploring Charleston will have to do some online research. We followed what looked like a game trail up the bluff. We had to climb up a steep grade to the western side. We quickly found the first adobe ruins.
The dogs had fun chasing each other. Zeke stayed with me, but Minnie and Trace seemed to be interested in each other. Trace has the energy of a young dog, and Minnie can't keep up with him, but she enjoyed running around and sniffing the area. We even came across an old toilet! Was this wooden bench really from the late 19th century?
The remaining ruins are now hidden by mature mesquites. It's hard to get a feel for how the homes were once laid out as one no longer has clear view of where the main streets were. Mesquites are fast growers and have strong, deep taproots. The trees weren't here when the town was active. None of the ruins is marked with the name of the original owner. We could see walls, door entrances and perhaps window openings. These adobe walls are slowly disappearing with each summer rain. Small depressions between several of the ruins were perhaps used for cold storage.
There is a wide path here among the ruins, which Steve thinks was once Main Street. Most of the homes for lower-income people were made of wood, and those structures are long gone.
I had no map of the old town and perhaps should have procured one to better help Steve get an idea of how big of an area the town once held. We walked the path northward but the path quickly ended and a smaller trail led into a small drainage or wash of rocks. Perhaps this was the old dumping area. One rock looked like it had petroglyphs on it.
I would need to do some homework. I'd like to come back here and do a more thorough study of the area.
We circled back to the river, the dogs had more fun there, and then we went back to the wide wash and walked toward the ruins of Millville, where the people in Charleston worked. This part of the area is well-marked. The trail branches out toward the old stampmill/petroglyphs and the main San Pedro trail meanders around the Charleston hills and continues north along the river. We concentrated on the ruins.
It was now warming up. While Trace has no difficulties in this heat, Minnie easily pants. I had the dogs rest under a bench (one of three provided by the BLM) while Steve read the informational plaques describing the old mill, the town, and the important residents at the time. It was getting warm now and we had no shade.
I took Steve to the high point of the old mill, from where one can see how the area was once laid out. The river's bed here surely has changed its path over the years. It's now wide here and covered with cottonwoods and ash, both which were not here during the town's heyday. The view southeast expands toward the Huachuca mountains, with the green canopy of the cottonwoods along the river marking the location of water.
Years ago Kevin and I walked around the hillside here, but even then we had to contend with the prickly shrubbery along the way: catclaw acacia being a big nuisance for anyone contemplating bushwacking around. Steve opted not to go any higher. We had lost any cloud cover now. We could see tailings down below but we ignored all that, walking back the way we came back to our cars. We had walked 3.2 miles in the 2.5 hours. It was now getting quite warm. There is more to see and discover at these ruins, but we'll save that for another day.
I suggested we eat at MyPlace in town, the popular diner for budget-minded people. I like this place! During the week the restaurant has $3.99 breakfast deals until 10am. It was 9:20am when we arrived, seated by a window table in the conference room on the west side, so that we could see the cars outside in case the dogs got restless. We both ordered the #8 special: a biscuit topped with sausage gravy, two eggs, and a sausage patty. We drank water to rehydrate. We sat in a side room, where every second Wednesday of the month the Women's Council of Realtors has its monthly meeting.
I got home after noon and here is when I realized I had gotten dehydrated. I was tired, low on energy. I didn't have the strength to go over my photographs and blog about our little exploratory hike. I ended up falling asleep early in the evening, totally forgetting about walking Sweetie and Sadie another mile to complete my daily four-mile quota. I only made it to 3.4 miles.
e
Wednesday looked like a good day and we agreed to get together early for this hike. I hadn't been back there in almost a decade; it was time I walked through there again. I brought Zeke and Minnie on this hike. The river alone is a nice place for both man and dog. I've taken many solitary walks north along the river bank with Sammy and Sara years ago.
We met at 6am by the Fry's Foods in town and drove separately to the marked Millville parking area nine miles away, on the east side of the San Pedro River. It was still cool and overcast as we began our hike north on the San Pedro River trail before cutting sharply to the west via a wash. This wash took us to a popular railroad overpass that is now heavily spray-painted. We have to go through the tunnel
to get to the river which we had to cross to get to the Charleston ruins. The tunnel makes for a cool, refreshing rest break on hot days. The "art" always changes here.
The dogs had fun chasing each other. Zeke stayed with me, but Minnie and Trace seemed to be interested in each other. Trace has the energy of a young dog, and Minnie can't keep up with him, but she enjoyed running around and sniffing the area. We even came across an old toilet! Was this wooden bench really from the late 19th century?
The remaining ruins are now hidden by mature mesquites. It's hard to get a feel for how the homes were once laid out as one no longer has clear view of where the main streets were. Mesquites are fast growers and have strong, deep taproots. The trees weren't here when the town was active. None of the ruins is marked with the name of the original owner. We could see walls, door entrances and perhaps window openings. These adobe walls are slowly disappearing with each summer rain. Small depressions between several of the ruins were perhaps used for cold storage.
There is a wide path here among the ruins, which Steve thinks was once Main Street. Most of the homes for lower-income people were made of wood, and those structures are long gone.
I had no map of the old town and perhaps should have procured one to better help Steve get an idea of how big of an area the town once held. We walked the path northward but the path quickly ended and a smaller trail led into a small drainage or wash of rocks. Perhaps this was the old dumping area. One rock looked like it had petroglyphs on it.
I would need to do some homework. I'd like to come back here and do a more thorough study of the area.
We circled back to the river, the dogs had more fun there, and then we went back to the wide wash and walked toward the ruins of Millville, where the people in Charleston worked. This part of the area is well-marked. The trail branches out toward the old stampmill/petroglyphs and the main San Pedro trail meanders around the Charleston hills and continues north along the river. We concentrated on the ruins.
It was now warming up. While Trace has no difficulties in this heat, Minnie easily pants. I had the dogs rest under a bench (one of three provided by the BLM) while Steve read the informational plaques describing the old mill, the town, and the important residents at the time. It was getting warm now and we had no shade.
I took Steve to the high point of the old mill, from where one can see how the area was once laid out. The river's bed here surely has changed its path over the years. It's now wide here and covered with cottonwoods and ash, both which were not here during the town's heyday. The view southeast expands toward the Huachuca mountains, with the green canopy of the cottonwoods along the river marking the location of water.
Years ago Kevin and I walked around the hillside here, but even then we had to contend with the prickly shrubbery along the way: catclaw acacia being a big nuisance for anyone contemplating bushwacking around. Steve opted not to go any higher. We had lost any cloud cover now. We could see tailings down below but we ignored all that, walking back the way we came back to our cars. We had walked 3.2 miles in the 2.5 hours. It was now getting quite warm. There is more to see and discover at these ruins, but we'll save that for another day.
I suggested we eat at MyPlace in town, the popular diner for budget-minded people. I like this place! During the week the restaurant has $3.99 breakfast deals until 10am. It was 9:20am when we arrived, seated by a window table in the conference room on the west side, so that we could see the cars outside in case the dogs got restless. We both ordered the #8 special: a biscuit topped with sausage gravy, two eggs, and a sausage patty. We drank water to rehydrate. We sat in a side room, where every second Wednesday of the month the Women's Council of Realtors has its monthly meeting.
I got home after noon and here is when I realized I had gotten dehydrated. I was tired, low on energy. I didn't have the strength to go over my photographs and blog about our little exploratory hike. I ended up falling asleep early in the evening, totally forgetting about walking Sweetie and Sadie another mile to complete my daily four-mile quota. I only made it to 3.4 miles.
e
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