Back Road Adventure

Back Road Adventure An Early-day Road to Riches, the Bradshaws Now Rank High in Sights to See

For early-day Prescott's prospectors and mining speculators, Senator Highway was the road to dreams, to that big gold or silver strike that would make them rich. Some bonanzas were found, like in the fabulous Peck and Crowned King districts that together produced more than $7 million. Much more frequently, however, mines were begun, then abandoned, and the miners moved on to the next strike. As they did, they extended and shifted the dirt grade that's now called Senator Highway.

The road and Prescott grew up together. The central Arizona gold rush of 1863 began in the Bradshaw Mountains, which were later connected to Prescott by this route. The bonanza contributed as well to the creation of Arizona Territory and the founding of Prescott in 1864 as its first capital.

Then for the next 60 years the mines along the Senator supported Prescott's economy, allowing "mining men," as the entrepreneurs called themselves, to build the town's magnificent Victorian houses. The road also brought miners to Whiskey Row, one of the reasons that, by 1884, Prescott had 28 saloons and three city blocks of bawdy houses.

Today I'm driving the Senator for recreation. The road climbs through the Prescott National Forest and from aspen-lined creeks to mountain passes. Vistas to rival the Mogollon Rim. Trails for hiking, mountain-biking, and horseback riding veer off from the road. Now, in June, patches of wildflowers speckle the stream sides. Come mid-October, the fall colors along the creeks will bring me back for another tour.

Few of the ghost towns and mines along the Senator have standing buildings. However, it is fun and historically worthwhile to do a "paper tour," as I'm doing driving the highway with a Prescott National Forest Map and reference books such as Arizona Highways' new Arizona Ghost Towns and Mining Camps.

Today Senator Highway, less elegantly known as Forest Service Road 52, begins as Mount Vernon Avenue in Prescott. It ends 46 miles later at Horsethief Basin Recreation Site, six miles south of Crown King. Unpaved portions of the Senator are not maintained in winter and should not be undertaken with low-clearance vehicles. Also, most of the route is single lane.

Six paved miles from the start I'm at Groom Creek, site of the Atzlan Mill where ore from the Peck Mine was processed. The pavement ends at Wolf Creek Road, near which, in 1863, the Joseph Reddeford Walker prospecting party found gold and started the first rush to the Bradshaw Mountains.

Two miles past the pavement's end, the canyon of the Hassayampa River appears on the right. Local miners called themselves "Hassayampers," swearing that anyone drinking from the river would never again tell the truth. In Hassayampa Canyon are remains of the road's namesake, the Senator Mine andMill. First claimed by the Walker party in 1864, it was relocated in 1872 and developed by Samuel Fredericks.

In 1875 Fredericks added five miles of road to connect his 10-stamp mill to what was then called Lynx Creek Road. At its peak, Senator had saloons, stores, a hotel, school, post office, and a population of several hundred. Most of the remaining ruins relate to operations by Phelps Dodge around 1900 and others as late as the 1930s.

At the head of Hassayampa Canyon the road forks with FR 197 branching east to Walker, while the Senator climbs south across the flank of Mount Union. With a high-clearance vehicle, a worthwhile side excursion is FR 261 to the Mount Union fire tower. An outcrop north of the tower gives stunning views. From that vantage, I was amazed to realize that the insignificant knob below Granite Mountain was Prescott's proud Thumb Butte.

The peak northeast of Union is 7,885-foot Mount Davis. A local tale says that in 1864, Southerners among the miners named it for Confederate President Jefferson Davis. In retaliation, Northern miners named its higher 7,979-foot neighbor for the Union.

Past Mount Union, the road descends Crook Canyon, named for Gen. George Crook, the military commander who subdued Arizona's Yavapais and Apaches. In the spring, numerous creeks flow across the road past the ruins of Crook City and Venezia.