US 60 History Trail

Superior is a copper town, and this outdoor trail is its museum. When the Broken Hill Proprietary company gave the Superior Historical Society a set of aging artifacts from the 120-year-old Magma mine in 1997, the pieces were too big for a building, so the town laid them out along U.S. 60 with the desert's natural history for company. The Magma mine and its smelter made Superior for a century. The trail interprets the headframes, hoists, and ore cars of that world, on the highway that still climbs past the mine.

What the plaque says

This historical trail began in 1997 when the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) donated mining artifacts from the 120-year-old Magma mine to the Superior Historical Society. Because of their age and size, the artifacts were displayed outdoors alongside interpretation of the area's natural history. The Superior Historical Society worked with BHP, the town of Superior, and planners to preserve the legacy of copper mining in Superior and interpret its significant mining elements.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Oak Flat — 3.6 mi
  Chi'chil Bildagoteel — the Apache sacred ground a copper mine is set to swallow
• Superstition Mountains — 20 mi
  The volcanic range that holds the Lost Dutchman legend — and outlasts it
• The Apache Trail — 23 mi
  The 1904 road built to raise Roosevelt Dam, still barely tamed
• Casa Grande Ruins — 32 mi
  The Huhugam Great House — and the country's first archaeological reserve

More markers nearby

• Bullion Plaza School — 15 mi
• El Capitan Pass — 19 mi
• Globe Mine Rescue Station — 20 mi
• Old Dominion Mine — 20 mi