A Day Trip to Jerome, Arizona

While camping in Sedona, I decided to take a side trip out to Tonto Natural Bridge. On the way, I figured I’d stop in Jerome—an old mining town I’d heard was worth a look.

Once America’s largest ghost town, Jerome boomed to over 15,000 people before collapsing to barely 50 when the mines shut down. What followed is wild: abandoned buildings filled with bikers and artists squatting in the ruins, eventually transforming into today’s artsy hillside community full of colorful characters.

And I mean characters.

Like the biker selling me a T-shirt, who locked eyes with me and asked, “Which pill would you take? The red or the blue?” Now, this guy looked more than a little out of it, and it took me a beat to realize he was referencing Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” blaring from the shop screen. I laughed and told him, “Neither—I’m a pig, I’d probably take them both, so better to avoid pills altogether.” He looked intrigued. I closed the transaction by recommending he read Go Ask Alice, a gritty diary of a teenage runaway addict. Who knows if he ever will.

Beyond the eccentric encounters, Jerome carries history. Touring the Douglas Mansion, I learned how two mine owners handled strikes very differently. Douglas, a Canadian running the Little Daisy mine, actually met with his strikers, heard them out, and gave them the raise they wanted. Meanwhile, the American up the hill had his striking workers put on a train, dumped in the desert, and threatened with death if they returned—then replaced them with new laborers under the same brutal conditions. When I pointed out that Douglas was Canadian, the guide just nodded knowingly.

Jerome is messy, fascinating, and more than a ghost town revival—it’s a living snapshot of grit, rebellion, and reinvention.

Here’s my little video on Jerome, AZ. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C4sSKBpzEE