The smelter at Sasco
Sasco has changed considerably since I first went there over twenty years ago. It used to be a place no one knew about—or cared about. The old smelter and catacombs were amazing. A mysterious and sometimes a little creepy place to explore. Unfortunately, in the past ten years, Sasco has been discovered by paintballers. It’s true that the catacombs and surrounding foundations make excellent bunkers and is paintballing heaven, but they have trashed the place for everyone else. Exploring the catacombs, the mud, the old concrete, used to bring you back a hundred years. Now, much of the area is covered in neon colored “paintball slime” from hundreds of thousands of exploded paintballs. The walls are covered in this goo and it can be hard to walk without stepping on paintballs.
Okay, enough of the downer. If you haven’t been to Sasco, you should still go. See it while you still can. Climb up the hill to the top, walk along the elevated tracks. Try to ignore the paintballs and trash.
The information from this blog has been moved to the Experience Arizona website at: http://www.experience-az.com/adventures/4wd/sasco/sasco.html
The Experience Arizona website has a lot more than the adventures contained in this blog:
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- To Do List
- Updated information
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- Online magazine
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Take a look, you'll be glad you did!
Sasco is on my list of places to visit. I was on Sasco Road yesterday, past the cows, but I chickened out because I have a small passenger car and wasn't sure if I'd make it across the river without trouble.
ReplyDeleteBuzz in Tucson
When you get out there, let me know how it's looking. I've seen cars go through it no problem, but without checking the depth, you never know...
ReplyDeletebuzz. if you are nervous about the water depth you can make it to sasco via silver bell. If you know the area well enough, take silverbell rd west from trico rd. you will end up at a "T" section with silver bell ending on Sasco rd. there you go right north east on sasco rd about 6 miles maybe less and sasco smelter and ghost town will be on your left. certainly cant miss it.
ReplyDeleteI was out there last week. We made it through the river on 2 quads and an S10 blazer. It looks deep in places, but, we watched a number of cars go through without problem. The site looks just as described here. It is a shame that it has been trashed by partiers and paint ballers, but, it is a great place to explore.
ReplyDeleteWent out today with a buddy of mine that works with a ghost hunting group. Very neat place to check out and my buddy picked up on several feelings. I think his group is going to go back and do a night time study of the area..
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad to hear about these losers trashing Sasco with paintballs. As a young Boyscout over 30 years ago, our Scoutmaster would take us out there for overnight campouts and it was such a historic place to camp. Yes there were broken beer bottles from those who got out from the city. However, it remains one of my favorite places as a scout to camp.
ReplyDelete