LOCATION
• Both the Martinez Ranch and the Pinal Ghost Town are located less than a mile west of Superior, and they are less than a mile south of Highway 60.
• George and Olga Martinez, the owners of the Martinez Ranch, have given us permission to hunt rocks on their ranch property.
• Pinal (or Pinal City) was founded in the early 1870’s, and it flourished from the early 1870’s to the early 1890’s. At one time there were about 2000 people living in Pinal. Both Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) and his common law wife Celia Ann “Mattie” Blaylock, lived in Pinal for a period of time. Wyatt Earp is known as a participant in a famous gun fight at the OK Corral in Tombstone (AZ).
• The Martinez Ranch is on private property, and the Pinal Ghost Town is in the Tonto National Forest.
WHEN and WHERE TO MEET
• We will meet at 9:00 a.m. in Superior at the Los Hermanos Restaurant.
• The street address for the restaurant is 835 US Highway 60.
• Public restrooms are available at the meeting location.
TRANSPORTATION/VEHICLES
• Any vehicle will make it to the meeting location, the Martinez Ranch and the Pinal Ghost Town.
• Additional areas near the Pinal Ghost Town will require vehicles will higher profile and 4-wheel-drive.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR
As a club we have never been to either the Martinez Ranch (a private ranch) or the Pinal Ghost Town. Both sites are very close to Picket Post Mountain and the Imerys Perlite Quarry. It is possible we might find Apache Tears (obsidian), but we really do not know what we are going to find.
WHAT TO TAKE
• Club badge, buckets, basic rock hunting tools, water, lunch, and trash grabber.
• People have reported finding old coins and other antiques at the Pinal Ghost Town. If you have a metal detector you may want to take it with you.
TRIP FEE
There are no fees for attending exploratory field trips.
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Meetups in Superior.