40 mi
2200 gain
Out + Back
Located in the Tonto National Forest, Sunflower Mine was active from 1913 to 1965. The mine was primarily a mercury-producing mine, but did produce copper, silver and gold. Inside the old processing building, there is a large pipe used to process cinnabar, a reddish-brown ore. The ore was burned with coke in furnaces to produce mercury gas, which then liquefied after being cooled. The trail is considered very difficult with tight narrow roads that are loose, rocky and overgrown.
