A Splash of the Sixties in Chloride, Arizona

If you happen to be traveling in northern Arizona, be sure to make a pit stop in Chloride. Chloride is located off of Route 93 about 17 miles northwest of Kingman, Arizona, 52 miles southeast of Hoover Dam, and about 75 miles from Las Vegas. Founded in 1862, Chloride has seen many changes since then. It is an old silver chloride mining town with a current year round population of about 150. Eclectic artists and retirees make up most of the current population. This quaint little town is located in the Cerbat Mountain range. It has the oldest continuously operational post office in Arizona. In the sixties, the hills above the town were home for a time to a commune of hippies. In 1966, one of their members, artist Roy Purcell, painted murals on the rocks above the town and we wanted to get a look at the paintings that have remained intact for nearly forty years.

As you turn off the main highway and start on the almost four mile trek to the town of Chloride, you will see several signs as you get closer to town. The one that intrigued us the most was the one warning motorists to yield to the red bull. As if we would challenge a red bull we laughed, thinking that it was only a joke. Thankfully we didn't see the red bull. We found out later that he really does exist! As we were informed by one of the locals during our visit, there is a red bull roaming the desert in that area and he gets very angry if cars honk their horn at him. So be forewarned, when you visit this quaint little town, don't honk at the red bull!

On our first visit to Chloride in 2004, we were unable to drive up the mountain to see the murals which were painted in the sixties by Roy Purcell. The road to the murals was only passable with a four-wheel drive vehicle and we didn't want to take any chances with our rented two-wheel drive van. We drove around the town, visited a few little shops, had a relaxing lunch at Sheps Yesterdays restaurant, and returned to Las Vegas.

The following year we came prepared, arriving in our rented four-wheel drive vehicle. After enjoying our lunch, again at Sheps Yesterdays restaurant, we headed up the mountain. Though there were areas where part of the road had been washed out, we were able to carefully ascend the roughly one and a half miles of challenging road, following the arrows painted on rocks, until we reached the murals. The road widens near the murals offering a small parking area where we pulled over and got out to enjoy the works of art. I took the photos included with this article in April of 2005.

In 2006, Roy Purcell and other artists returned to the murals and repainted them, adding rich colors to the faded rocks. To see the murals as they are now, check out http://www.roypurcellgalleries.com/murals.htm.

For more information, contact the Chloride Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 268, Chloride, AZ 86431, (928) 565-2204