Old Dominion Historic Mine Park in Globe Arizona | Exploring an Abandoned Mining Facility

Old Dominion Historic Mine Park in Globe Arizona | Exploring an Abandoned Mining Facility

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* Please note as you saw in the video, there are going to be trail closures starting on February 29th, 2020. The trails effected are primarily in the upper-left quadrant of the park as you look at the map.

These do include some of the trails that give you great views from high up above the facility.

According to a local, the reason for the closure is that many of the areas in the park are built on the “tailings”, or waste rock, extracted from the mine. This poses a safety hazard as much of the terrain is a bit unstable.

We were able to receive an official explanation from BHP Billiton later confirming that construction work will be conducted in the area which will pose a safety issue for visitors to the Old Dominion Mining Park. They are working with the park to develop new trails on the alternate side.

Despite these trail closings, we feel the park is still well worth visiting and the closed trails should not take too much away from the overall experience.

*** Also, a pro tip for you. Take a photo of the map of the park near the parking lot before you explore, especially if you are not familiar with the area. We did not see any other maps in the park and can not find a map online to link here. You’ll be happy you did!
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Old Dominion Historic Mine Park in Globe, Arizona is open from sunrise to sunset.

It’s free, and pet friendly.

The Old Dominion Historic Mine Park allows you to hike one of many trails through an old mining facility that was in operation between 1880 and 1931. The primary metal mined here was copper.

You will be able to see the remnants of many old structures such as a smelting facility, supply house, general office and many more. Most of the remaining structures are cracked concrete foundations, hinting at once was, but several signs spread throughout the park display post card images from the 1930’s that show how extensive and developed this area was.

With a little imagination, you will be able to travel back in time and get a feel for what this place was like.

There are some buildings that are much more in tact like the Mine Building, with a concrete vault room positioned in the center, or the slime tanks. Some areas are fenced in and not accessible, like the area around the main head frame at the top of the hill, but you can still get a good up-close look regardless.

In addition to old buildings, you’ll see lots of old mining equipment spread throughout the park, such as ore carts. There is a boneyard of old mining equipment near the parking lot which provides enough incentive to visit the park on its own. It was amazing!

The park contains countless signs with mining information and definitions of mining terms, making the experience extremely educational too.

In addition to mining relics from a time past, there are plenty of opportunities for recreation. There is a really neat playground that your children will love, shaded ramadas with grills that are perfect for family gatherings, and even a complete frisbee golf course.

It’s also a great place to get a workout in the form of hiking, or maybe running.

We couldn’t believe just how much there was to do at this place. We spent about a half day exploring and were not able to hike every trail and see everything.

We could not recommend this place more, especially if you are into history, and especially mining history. It’s a true adventure!

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