Bisbee

Copper was mined here from the 1880s and Bisbee became one of the largest towns between St Louis and San Francisco, with houses stacked up the canyon walls linked by staircases - over a thousand steps in total, and an annual race that runs up them. Phelps Dodge closed the mine in 1975 and the population collapsed; cheap property drew artists and the town refilled with a different set of people. The Queen Mine Tour takes visitors underground on the mine train with retired miners guiding. The Lavender Pit, an open cut on the edge of town, is visible from the road. In 1917 around twelve hundred striking miners were loaded into cattle cars and abandoned in the New Mexico desert - the Bisbee Deportation.

What you actually see

• Houses stacked up canyon walls - linked by long public staircases.
• The Queen Mine Tour - underground on the mine train.
• The Lavender Pit - the open cut on the town's edge.
• The 1917 deportation history - striking miners removed by force.

When to go

October to April; summer is hot though the altitude helps. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Streets and stairs are very steep - this is hard walking. Parking in Old Bisbee is tight. The mine tour is cold underground year round. It is a long drive from Tucson.

Nearby

Tombstone is north; the Mexican border at Naco is south.