Bagdad AZ

[stephenkatsea]

Seems like every summer afternoon from our pool we see huge thunderheads forming far to the east of LHC. Checking weather radar it looked like they were often dumping rain on a place called Bagdad AZ. I'd never heard of it, so began checking it out. Found it was a company owned, huge open pit, small mining town. Population less than 2,000 and pretty much self contained. Elev is about 3,400. After talking and joking about this place for a few years, we finally made a run over there yesterday. It is off of Hwy 93. We approached from the north, just east of Kingman. Biggest surprise were the fall colors on the trees along river that parallels much of the highway. It looked like friggin' Vermont. Many places had large groves of these brightly fall colored trees with Giant Saguaro Cactus standing in front of them. Looked pretty amazing. A good photographer could probably take some great shots. We didn't. Bagdad sits up in the hills a few miles to the east of the highway. Nice place, with a bunch of friendly, hardworking people. We had lunch at the Copper Country Bar & Grill. Full bar. Great service and good food. Asked the waitress about those summer storms. She said they were unbelievable. They get clobbered almost every summer afternoon. But, it was also her favorite time of the year. This tiny town has their own high school football stadium. Imagine their Friday night games are very well attended, considering it's the only game in town. There's also an airport and golf course. There's even a small Basha's Grocery store there. Freeport-McMoran owns the unique town and active copper mine. Read that tours of the huge mine are available. We didn't mess with that. If you're looking for something a bit different, off the beaten path, it's a nice drive on good roads. We enjoyed it.

 

[Ziggy]

Interesting to hear about it. You and I both have mentioned how Bagdad always seems to collect the summer storms that don't quite push over into Havasu.
Wife and I have joked about it hundreds of times.

 

[coolchange]

Was it the " Bagdad Cafe "? Lol
I know ,that's in California.

 

[WhatExit?]

"The town of Bagdad is located in the high deserts of central Arizona approximately 100 miles northwest of Phoenix, and 60 miles west of Prescott. The town has had a direct relationship to local mining operations which have been ongoing since 1882 when the first claims were staked." http://bagdadaztown.com

 

[TCHB]

I always watch the radar see the storms going over the mountain behind Havasu.

 

[707dog]

a lot of copper in dem hills make a good conductor

 

[79 HUSTLER]

It’s a pretty cool place for sure. Have gone all the way from standard wash of the 95 in havasu up there. The creeks out of there sure have some amazing color??

 

[coz]

When I first moved out here I worked for a contractor that was doing work for Freeport-Mcmoran. We were rehabbing the houses that FM owns and sells at cut rates for employees, we would stay in one of the houses during the week then home on the weekends (4-10's). It's definitely a company owned and employee occupied town, there ain't shit out there and you're miles from normal civilization...and I mean there ain't shit out there, no fast food joints, no stores to shop for clothes, no entertainment and the Bashas grocery store that was mentioned is a little bigger than my garage. Not bashing the town but I don't recommend it as place to visit in Az, unless you're a miner of course.

 

[stephenkatsea]

Living there wasn't even a thought. But, it was a nice road trip. First saw it from the air (commercial flights into LAX from the east coast). Very visible from the air and just about a minute later you're passing over the Colorado River. That's what first caught my eye.