Ruby, Arizona

I'd been wanting to visit Ruby since 1983, when I bought the book Arizona's Best Ghost Towns by Philip Varney. Varney's photos of the many standing buildings at Ruby tantalized me, but he also called Ruby "a magnificent obsession to the ghost town enhusiast," because at that time the townsite was not accessible to the public. The closest I came was in 1992 -- a distant view of a few of the site's buildings from outside the locked gate. The decades passed, and life took me many other places, but always in the back of my mind Ruby was there, waiting patiently. Finally, I got word that Ruby had been opened to the public, and in 2017 I drove the "Ruby Loop" and spent a day walking the town's empty streets and photographing its deserted buildings. In retrospect, the fact that Ruby was guarded all those years is a blessing; while many other ghost town sites have fallen prey to vandals and now have little to see, Ruby still has dozens of buildings standing in various states of decay. For me, the magnificent obsession had finally been fulfilled.

Last Visited: November 2017. Directions: From Arivaca Road exit 48 on I-19, take Arivaca Road for 23 miles to the town of Arivaca, then Forest Service Road 39 (Ruby Road) another 12 miles to the signed entrance to Ruby; the last 7 miles are dirt but passable to sedans. An alternate route is from Ruby Road exit 12 on I-19, taking Ruby Road (Highway 289 / Forest Service Road 39) for 21 miles; the last 12 miles are a dirt road passable to sedans. If you drive in on one of these routes, and out on the other, you have driven the "Ruby Loop." The townsite is open Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday). There is an entry fee ($12 per adult as of November 2017; group rates available) payable to the caretaker; fishing and camping are extra. For more information call (520) 744-4471.