Forty-five miles southeast of Tucson on the east slope of the Santa Rita Mountains are the Greaterville gold placers, discovered by A. Smith in 1874. This was once a thriving mining area with gold panning, hydraulic sluicing (Using huge water cannons to erode the hillsides and filtering the run-off ...Read More
Forty-five miles southeast of Tucson on the east slope of the Santa Rita Mountains are the Greaterville gold placers, discovered by A. Smith in 1874. This was once a thriving mining area with gold panning, hydraulic sluicing (Using huge water cannons to erode the hillsides and filtering the run-off looking for nuggets). Unfortunately, there's not much left of the town, with the exception of a very photographic Cemetery at the end of the trail.
This is a very easy drive and is suitable for any vehicle with even moderate ground clearance.
Here's an example of the kind of hydraulic Mining they did here. Photo courtesy of the Arizona Historical Society.
Trail Difficulty and Assessment
Recommended Vehicle:
Trail Guide Overview
5 Waypoints
17 Trail
Photos
1 Trail Concerns
1 Community Reviews
1 Video
Trail Tools
Open in App
Upload to Gaia GPS
Download GPX
Directions to...
Share Trail
Print Trail
Start a 7-Day Free Trial and Unlock 5,000+ Trail Guides
By clicking "ACCEPT", you agree to be the terms and conditions of each
policy linked to above. You also agree to the storing of cookies on
your device to facilitate the operation and functionality of our site,
enhance and customize your user experience, and to analyze how our
site is used.