Catoctin

Overview

Twenty people and a stamp mill

Catoctin was a small gold camp in the mountains south of Prescott, in the canyons along the upper Hassayampa River. An undated listing says a prospector named Frank Alter found the deposit in 1884 and named it after his home in Pennsylvania. The camp itself dates from about 1902, and its post office opened on December 29 that year.

It never grew past a handful of mine buildings and homes. About 20 people lived there on average, and that was the count in 1914. A photo from about 1903 shows the Catoctin Mining Company's 10-stamp mill, and the Climax Mine lay a little over a mile to the south-southeast. The post office closed on July 15, 1920. The Sharlot Hall Museum's records say the mine produced gold and silver, with some copper and lead, until 1937.

We found no dated report on what's left. An undated listing names one standing building and some mining equipment, while Wikipedia's list of Arizona ghost towns calls Catoctin a barren site. The site falls inside Prescott National Forest. We haven't confirmed what's left or whether the track in is open.

Timeline

What we know

1. 1884Frank Alter finds the deposit and names it after his home in Pennsylvania, according to an undated listing, which also spells him Alters.
2. c. 1890The Sharlot Hall Museum dates one of its photographs of the Catoctin Mine to about this year.
3. c. 1902A small camp grows up around the mine.
4. Dec 29, 1902The Catoctin post office opens.
5. c. 1903A photograph shows the Catoctin Mining Company's 10-stamp mill in the Hassayampa District.
6. 1903The USGS Congress map marks the Catoctin Mine below Burro Wallow.
7. 1914The population is reported as 20.
8. Jul 15, 1920The post office closes.
9. 1937The last year of production in the Sharlot Hall Museum's record of the mine.

Site map

Finding the camp

Catoctin isn't in the USGS place-name database as a town, so we took the point Wikipedia gives and checked it against the old maps. The 1903 USGS Congress sheet prints CATOCTIN MINE right there, just below Burro Wallow, with Quartz Mountain and its mine to the south and a spot marked RUINS to the west. The ground elevation at the point, about 5,080 feet, matches the 5,079 feet the Sharlot Hall Museum gives for the mine.

The 1947 Kirkland sheet shows Burro Wallow, Quartz Mountain and the Climax Mine. The 1969 Wilhoit sheet shows mine symbols and two small buildings along a jeep trail that runs down the canyon toward the Hassayampa, and the 1981 sheet adds Board Creek and the White Spar Mine. One discrepancy: the 1969 book Wikipedia cites puts Catoctin 16 miles southeast of Prescott. The mapped mine is about 9 miles south-southwest of downtown in a straight line, and 14 miles by road.

Historic maps

Catoctin on USGS maps, 1887–1981

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

18871:250,00019031:125,00019471:62,50019691:24,00019811:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Prescott is the closest city, about 40 minutes away. The routes below were computed from OpenStreetMap and haven't been driven by us. Both leave AZ 89 south of Prescott on an unnamed dirt track for the last 1.2 miles, and an undated listing rates the road 4WD.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Around Catoctin

Prescott National Forest from AZ 89 between Wilhoit and Prescott, looking south, 2019AZ 89 in Prescott National Forest between Prescott and Yarnell, 2010

Visitor reports

Been to Catoctin?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Catoctin

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Arizona index.

• Glen Oaks1.6 mi NW · Yavapai
• Venezia6.9 mi E · Yavapai
• Walker8.9 mi E · Yavapai
• Goodwin9.8 mi SE · Yavapai
• Placerita12.6 mi SW · Yavapai
• Hooper13.9 mi SE · Yavapai
• Big Bug14.5 mi E · Yavapai
• Wagoner14.7 mi S · Yavapai

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Catoctin": fact sheet fields (roads, legal description, climate, best time, remains, post office dates), the 1884 discovery and name, the 1914 population.
2. Wikipedia, "Catoctin, Arizona", retrieved October 2026, citing Sherman and Sherman, Ghost Towns of Arizona (1969): founding about 1902, post office dates, size, the Climax Mine, the 16-mile distance, coordinates.
3. Wikipedia, "List of ghost towns in Arizona": described as a barren site.
4. Sharlot Hall Museum Library & Archives, "Catoctin Mining Company" (photo, c. 1903) and "The Catoctin Mine": the 10-stamp mill, district, mine elevation, metals, production to 1937, the c. 1890 photo date.
5. USGS historical topographic maps (1903 Congress, 1947 Kirkland, 1969 Wilhoit, 1981 Bradshaw Mts): the mine's location and neighbors.
6. Sharlot Hall Museum, "Hours & Admission", as of October 2026: hours, closed days and admission.
7. USDA Forest Service, recreational drone use: FAA rules apply, and drones are banned in wilderness.
8. Township and range: BLM PLSS survey grid. Land status: USGS Protected Areas Database (Prescott National Forest).
9. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Track tags: OpenStreetMap, October 2026. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.

Photo and map credits

• Prescott National Forest from AZ 89 between Wilhoit and Prescott, looking south, 2019: Qwert üpoiuz, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
• AZ 89 in Prescott National Forest between Prescott and Yarnell, 2010: Alan Stark from Goodyear, AZ, United States, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
• The Catoctin Mine below Burro Wallow, USGS Congress sheet, 1903: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Prescott 1887, 1:250,000; Congress 1903, 1:125,000; Kirkland 1947, 1:62,500; Wilhoit 1969, 1:24,000; Bradshaw Mts 1981, 1:100,000.