Off-Roading To Gold Eye Mine & Potty Garden
Mentions from the video: See our lunch adventure in Quartzsite or check out the ways to stay at Arizona Oasis.
The Stone Cottage
Erdman’s Memorial
Rachelle here from Arizona Oasis! Dave & Laura took me to Gold Eye Mine and The Potty Garden.
We started out from Arizona Oasis and headed towards Quartzsite on the gas line trail. Once we hit the junction, we took the power line trail across the hills towards Quartzsite.
Gold Eye Mine is on the other side of the hills towards Quartzsite. It took us about two hours to get there, but we did some exploring and stopping along the way.
The mine has a stone cottage that was built by the original miner, Lehre Erdman. Erdman spent 63 at the mine and passed away in 1996.
His cottage no longer has a roof, but many of Erdman’s things have been left there for desert explorers to discover and enjoy.
The most interesting thing in the cottage was the metal covering over the hole where Erdman hid (with his gold!) whenever he saw someone coming.
It was deep and it looked like it might have gone somewhere, but I didn’t go down it to find out!
The Potty Garden is a line of toilets planted with silk flowers — somebody has a silly sense of humor! My favorite throne was adorned with a plunger.
The Potty Garden Thrones
There’s another stone cottage on the far side of the potty garden. The second cottage has a few additional artifacts, but the first one is more interesting.
The mine is active all winter long. Several miners have started digging all over the Arizona hills. You can spot them by looking for discolorations in the hills.
Have Your Own Desert Adventure
Come have your own desert adventure and explore old stone cottages and toilets decorated with flowers! See the ways to stay at Arizona Oasis, book online or give us a call at (928) 923-8230.