Underground Mine Exploration Tour – Eldorado & Victory Mines
Step beneath the surface of Chrysotile, Arizona, on our Underground Mine Exploration Tour. This guided underground mine tour takes you inside the historic Eldorado and Victory Mines, where chrysotile ore was once hauled out by rail to fuel Arizona’s mining boom. You’ll walk roughly 1.5 miles along former railcar access levels, navigating uneven ground, rail tracks, and occasional standing water as you explore the cool, dark tunnels.
This tour is designed for adventurous guests who are comfortable in confined spaces for about an hour and able to walk up to 2 miles and climb in and out of an off‑road vehicle. Along the way, your guide will point out ore shoots, rail lines, side passages leading to mined rooms, veins of chrysotile in the rock, and artifacts left from mining days. You’ll hear detailed stories about the miners’ work, wages, and daily life, and gain a realistic sense of the conditions they faced underground. This is a dedicated underground tour and is separate from our Chrysotile Lost Mining City Off‑Road Tour, which focuses on the wider canyon, townsite buildings, and waterfall.
For a bigger picture of the area around the mine, check out our First‑Timer’s Guide to Visiting Ash Creek Canyon.
What to Expect on Your Underground Mine Tour
You’ll spend about an hour underground and cover roughly 1.5 miles of walking, mainly along historic railcar levels. Expect uneven rock, rail tracks, and possible water on the floor. To fully enjoy this tour, guests should be comfortable in confined spaces, able to walk up to 2 miles, and able to get in and out of an off‑road vehicle.
Inside the Eldorado and Victory Mines
Feel the temperature drop as you step into the mine and imagine workers relying on hand and pneumatic tools in low light. You’ll see ore shoots, rail tracks, side passageways, and veins of chrysotile running through the granite. Along the route, watch for traces of mining life—dynamite boxes, mine cars, mineral deposits formed by spring water, and the occasional bat overhead.
Who This Underground Tour Is For
This tour is ideal for adventurous visitors with an interest in history, geology, or mining. If you enjoy learning how places were built, don’t mind the dark and tight spaces, and want a realistic feel for miners’ working conditions, this experience is for you. If you prefer open views, gentler terrain, or staying mostly above ground, our Chrysotile Lost Mining City Off‑Road Tour may be a better fit.
Ready to explore beneath the surface of Chrysotile’s mining history? Book your Underground Mine Exploration Tour with Wilds of Arizona and step into the tunnels, stories, and geology that shaped this canyon.
Learn More: Chrysotile Mine History Book
Over the years we’ve connected with families who lived and worked in Ash Creek Canyon, including miners and their children. One of the grandchildren of a Chrysotile miner wrote a paperback history of the town and its mines, sharing first‑hand stories, photos, and daily life between 1914 and 1945. If you’d like to go deeper into the history you see on our Underground Mine Exploration Tour, you can purchase a copy of this book through our site.
The book, Chrysotile, Arizona 1914–1945 by Gene Knuckey, is available as a 60‑page paperback and offers a detailed look at the community that grew around the Eldorado and Victory Mines in Ash Creek Canyon.
If you’ve joined one of our tours or used a Day Pass, we’d be grateful if you’d leave a quick Google review mentioning Ash Creek Canyon or the specific tour you took.