| Jerome, the Town that Wouldn't Die Jerome to Clarksdale, Arizona Climb the mountain and travel back in time. Find yourself in an unspoiled, early 20th-century Arizona mining town where Victorian homes, historic hotels, and hospitals cling precariously to the steeply raked hillside, and where winding switchback streets connect the levels of the town. Wander the narrow lanes past studios where artists create works of jewelry, tapestries, oils, sculpted stone, wood, and wire. Everywhere the astounding view extends for miles, filling the eye and clearing the mind as the mountain air refreshes and reinvigorates your soul. Spend your weekend in Jerome simply poking around the history-laden streets to browse the shops and galleries, or use it as a base for exploring sites back down the mountain. Relax, breathe deep, forget for a while that Monday is just a few hours away. Use our route planner to find hotels for your next trip.
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| Jerome 600 Clark Street Jerome, AZ 86331 Call (928) 634-2900  |  | This once-bustling copper mining center boasted 15,000 inhabitants in the 1920s. It had the state's largest hospital. Special housing was created to attract respectable single women, while the saloons and bordellos attracted the raucous kind. But then the copper mines closed and all but the hardiest folk moved away. Another boomtown seemed destined to become a ghost town. Jerome's rebirth began when it was declared a National Historic District in 1967. Artists began to repopulate the abandoned stores and homes. Museums were created, tiny restaurants reopened, and mansions were converted to B&B's. Today the permanent population numbers around 500. | | |||||||
| Gold King Mine and Ghost Town Perkinsville Rd. Jerome, AZ 86331 Call (928) 634-0053 |  | If you head south a mile out of Jerome on 89A, don't take the sharp turn that leads to Prescott but keep going straight and you'll come to Gold King Mine and Ghost Town. This is one of the oldest settlements in the region. The museum has numerous mining displays including restored and working mining equipment. You can even walk into an old mine shaft to see what conditions were like for those hard-drilling miners. The mine is open daily from 9am-5pm; closed on Christmas Day. | | |||||||
| Jerome State Historic Park P.O. Box D Jerome, AZ 86331 Call (928) 634-5381 | | Just outside of town and heading towards Cottonwood, the Jerome State Historic Park offers insight into why Jerome came into existence and what life was like here during the boom years. It used to be the home and entertainment center of one of the area's leading mine owners. Now it has artifacts, photographs, mineral displays and a nifty 3-D model of the tunnels that traverse the city. It's open daily from 8am-5pm. | | |||||||
| Verde Canyon Railroad 300 N Broadway Clarksdale, AZ 86324 Call (623) 374-3185 | |  One of the highlights of your trip may be an afternoon excursion on the Verde Canyon Railroad. This section of the narrow canyon and unspoiled desert are inaccessible by car. The four-hour ride takes you through dramatic landscapes and past Indian ruins. Trains leave from Clarksdale (north of Jerome) at a variety of times throughout the year. | ||||||||
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Jerome, the Town that Wouldn't Die