Miami

Arizona copper town with faded boomtown storefronts between Phoenix and the White Mountains.

Miami is a small copper mining town in Gila County, Arizona, sitting in the rugged hill country between Phoenix and the White Mountains. It is a classic Western boomtown — the copper mines that built it are largely dormant now, but the town retains a certain faded charm.

The old downtown has been partly renovated, with a handful of antique shops and galleries setting up in the historic storefronts along Sullivan Street. Miami and neighbouring Globe are often visited together, and the drive through the Final Pass mining district on US-60 is dramatic, with open-pit mines carved into the red and ochre hillsides. It makes a worthwhile stop on the scenic route between Phoenix and the eastern Arizona highlands.

Guide

Getting There

Miami sits on US-60 about 90 miles east of Phoenix, roughly halfway between the city and the New Mexico border. By car from Phoenix, take US-60 east through Apache Junction and Superior — the drive takes around 90 minutes. The road through the Final Pass mining district on the approach from the west is one of the most dramatic stretches of highway in Arizona.

From Tucson, the most direct route is AZ-77 north through Oracle to Globe (about 90 miles), then US-60 west three miles into Miami. The drive takes around two hours.

There is no passenger rail service to Miami. Greyhound serves Globe, five miles east on US-60. Globe also has a small municipal airport (P13), though commercial air service to the area uses Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX), which is the practical gateway for most visitors.

A car is essential — Miami and the surrounding mining landscape are not walkable from any transit point, and most of what makes the area worth visiting requires driving.

Guide

Things to Do

Miami is small but its mining heritage is visible at every turn. The Bullion Plaza Cultural Center and Museum anchors the cultural life of the town, housed in a historic school building and telling the full story of copper mining in the Gila Valley. Downtown, Sullivan Street preserves a row of early 20th-century commercial buildings — several now occupied by antique dealers and small galleries that make for an easy browse. The Final Pass Scenic Overlook on US-60 gives you the most dramatic view of open-pit copper mining you are likely to see from a public road — the scale is genuinely staggering. North of town, the Inspiration Open Pit is the remnant of the old Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company workings and makes a worthwhile short detour.