Dixie Mine Trail

Hiking in Arizona is like choosing from the display case at a bakery. Although there are hundreds of choices, practically everything is going to be good.

Hiking the Grand Canyon is the ultimate dessert – such as a chocolate rum cake. But Northeast Valley residents have a tasty little hike right in their own backyard.

Compared to the Grand Canyon, this hike is a donut hole – much smaller, not so filling, but sweet nonetheless.

Called the Dixie Mine Trail, the hike is a semi-challenging three-hour round trip journey that delivers a surprising break from suburban life.

The Dixie Mine Trail is a non-dedicated hiking trail. It exists only because others have hiked it before. Judging by the well-worn path, though, it’s a safe guess that hundreds of hiking boots (and horseshoes) have wandered the path.

Maybe the Dixie Mine Trail isn’t a donut hole, though. Maybe it’s a box of Cracker Jax.

For a little more than an hour the hike leads into the lower Sonoran Desert. The thin dirt trail meanders and winds through dips and small valleys, through flora and fauna.

That’s delicious. It’s caramelized popcorn and peanuts.

Waiting at the turnaround point, though, is the secret toy surprise.

The Dixie Mine, a ghost of a shaft, reminds hikers that they are treading on pure Arizona history. Pre-Fountain Hills and pre-Scottsdale.

Prospectors searched the east slopes of the McDowell Mountains 100 years ago, hoping that the hills held precious metals.

Hints of gold, silver and copper were enough proof that the McDowells held riches for miners.

History

The details surrounding the Dixie Mine are sketchy, but records show that shafts and tunnels were drilled, and the inner-earth brought to the surface, since around 1917.

It was in that year that C.E. Meyers, a mining engineer, prepared a report for the Dixie Mining Group – a mining company that held more than a dozen mining claims in the area.

Meyers' report gave the owners the green light on full development at the Dixie Mine.

“…large sulphide bodies of commercial ore can be reasonably anticipated,” Meyers stated in his report. “I have no hesitation whatever in recommending extensive development.”

According to local historian and author, Bob Mason of Rio Verde, the Dixie Mine was considered an “investor mine.”

Owners secured financial backing to work the mine until that money ran out. Then they would start again with new investors who hoped – as did everyone – that the mine would produce valuable ore.

Despite 500 feet of tunnels and a shaft some 240-feet deep, the Dixie mine is a historical loser. The earth below never paid the big jackpot.

Operations halted at the Dixie Mine in the 1960s.

In 1972 the City of Scottsdale successfully filed an application for a Recreation and Public Purpose Lease/Purchase on 960 acres, including the Dixie Mine and the surrounding mining claims, for use as a city park.

Two mineral claims on the area proved that the further development of the Dixie Mine would be unprofitable.

Mine owners Lee Nicholson, Homer Gillespie, Robert Gillespie and Donald Pruitt appealed the decision, but lost.

“It is clear from the evidence available at the present time that no prudent man would proceed to the development of any of the claims in the contest…” stated Administrative Judge Joan B. Thompson.

The area has subsequently been added to the McDowell Mountain Regional Park.

Pre-history

A wash that runs through the mine is abundant in plant and animal life and likely was home to Native Americans at one time.

Indeed, evidence in the area shows that, before prospectors began staking out their claims, others inhabited the area.

A short hike up the wash from the now-gated and locked mine reveals a fascinating glimpse into pre-history.

Native Americans carved figures, animals and characters into the bluff walls of the wash.

The petroglyphs can be seen at two points along the wash.

The carvings perhaps marked a settlement in the area, warning others that they were trespassing.

Little is known about the significance and meaning of the petroglyphs.

McDowell Mountain Regional Park Ranger Ken Taylor said the carvings are believed to be around 500 years old and are probably the work of Hohokam Indians.

Directions

There are several ways to get to the Dixie Mine.

In Fountain Hills, drive to the end of Golden Eagle Boulevards and begin hiking on the dirt road.

A water tower tank is perched on a hill to the right.

The area was once home to the Saddle Club and members often rode their horses into the desert from that point.

Follow the dirt trail through a gate. There are several forks in the trail along the way. The general rule is to take the right fork each time. However, the forks are little side loops that end up back on the main trail.

The trail will dump off onto a cut service road. The Dixie Mine’s greenish dump rock pile will be visible from there. Turn right on the road and follow it until the wash. Take a left into the wash (the wash is abundant with plants and trees, but the trail is visible) and follow to the mine and the petroglyphs.

Hikers can continue up the wash and wind back on the cut road, or turn around and reverse the hike.

An easier choice is to follow the cut road all the way to the Dixie Mine.

While this option doesn’t afford the up-close beauty of winding through the desert, there’s no fear of getting lost.

Simply hike the road to the mine and follow it back.

To get to the road take Golden Eagle Boulevard north; turn right onto Richwood Avenue; turn left onto Dixie Mine Trail; and turn left onto Grassland Drive. A dirt trail starts at the end of Grassland and leads to the dirt road leading to the mine.

The hike lasts approximately three hours and is easy to moderate. The trail through the desert offers a few climbs up embankments, but is generally level.

This hike was first featured October 2000 and revised February 2007.