Abandoned 
Overview
A ten-year gold camp at the edge of the Devil's Highway
Fortuna was the camp of the La Fortuna gold mine, at about 770 feet on the west side of the Gila Mountains, some 25 miles southeast of Yuma. Prospectors found the vein in late 1894 close to the Camino del Diablo, an old desert road notorious for killing travelers. In 1896 Charles D. Lane bought the claims and formed the La Fortuna Gold Mining and Milling Company. The Harquahala mine, in which he was a major stockholder, was running out of ore, and much of its crew came south to the new one.
There was no water on the spot. The company pumped it from a well on the Gila River near Blaisdell and sent it 12 to 14 miles by pipeline to a 20-stamp mill that ran from 1897 to 1904. The territorial geologist William P. Blake found the camp's water so salty it was "capable of eating holes in wrought and cast iron." One account puts the camp at about 100 people, with blacksmith shops, cookhouses, a general store, a barbershop, a school and several saloons. Mule teams hauled supplies and explosives between the camp and the Southern Pacific. The post office ran from 1896 to 1904.
By 1904 the mine had produced 123,030 ounces of gold, and then the vein was lost at depth. The mine closed that year, and the post office followed. Later crews worked the pillars and the old ground from 1913 to 1926, bringing the total to 124,239 ounces, and a last effort in 1939–42 opened a new vein. None of it brought the town back. Since 1941 the mountains around it have been part of a military gunnery range. Visitors can still reach the ruins, but only with a range permit.
Timeline
Ten good years and a long tail
- Charles W. Thomas, William H. Halbert, Peter Farrell and Laurence Albert find a gold-quartz vein on the west side of the Gila Mountains, near the Camino del Diablo. Wikipedia dates the find to about 1893.
- Charles D. Lane buys the claims, for $150,000 by one account, and organizes the La Fortuna Gold Mining and Milling Company. Much of the crew from his Harquahala mine moves to Fortuna.
- The Fortuna post office opens.
- A 20-stamp mill starts work at the mine. Water arrives by a 4-inch pipeline, 12 to 14 miles long by different accounts, from a pumped well on the Gila River near Blaisdell. Territorial geologist William P. Blake visits.
- The vein is lost at depth and the mine shuts down, after producing 123,030 ounces of gold. The post office closes in November.
- Burt Enderton mines the pillars of ore left standing underground.
- The Elan Mining Co. works the mine briefly; sources give both years. Output for 1896–1926 reaches 124,239 ounces of gold.
- The USGS Fortuna sheet marks the mine at the end of a road from the northwest. A Southern Pacific siding named Fortuna sits 12 miles away near the Gila.
- William B. Maitland reworks the tailings, sinks two shafts on a new vein and does more work underground. It's the last mining reported.
- The military range that now surrounds the mine is established.
- Seven of the mine's eight patented claims are sold for $100 each.
- Off-road guides describe ruins, foundations, graves, a fenced shaft, an information kiosk and a guestbook, reached with a range permit.
- Marine Corps Air Station Yuma issues range permits online. The newest report from the site itself is from 2022.
Two places, one name
The camp and the siding
As at Kofa, the standard coordinates point somewhere else. The USGS place-name record for Fortuna (GNIS 24422), and the Wikipedia coordinates taken from it, put the town at 32.691° N, 114.453° W, near I-8 at the edge of today's Fortuna Foothills. The 1926 USGS Fortuna sheet shows what was there: a stop named Fortuna on the Southern Pacific's Sunset Route, with Blaisdell to the northeast. Wikipedia also says the town stood on the railroad.
The mining camp is 12 miles to the southeast, at the mine. The USGS mineral-resources database places the Fortuna mine at 32.552° N, 114.331° W, and every USGS sheet of the area since 1926 marks it there. The legal description an undated listing gives, T10S R20W, also fits the mine, not the siding. The siding was probably the camp's railroad connection, but we found no source that says so.
- Fortuna, the mining camp. At the La Fortuna mine in the Gila Mountains, on the Goldwater Range. This page.
- Fortuna siding. A railroad stop near the Gila River, where GNIS, Wikipedia and most map apps put the name.
- Fortuna Foothills. A present-day community along I-8 east of Yuma, named for the area. Not a ghost town.
Legend and record
The campfire story
An off-road guide that draws on the site's information board tells it this way: three men looking for stray cattle camped there on December 22, 1894. They piled up rocks for a fire ring and found gold in them the next morning.
The Arizona Geological Survey's history of the mine names four discoverers, not three, and dates the find only to late 1894. Wikipedia says about 1893. We keep the campfire story because visitors will read it at the site, but treat it as a story.
What's left
Ruins on a gunnery range
Accounts of what survives disagree. An undated listing says nothing is left. Off-road guides from 2016 and 2022 describe many ruins, old foundations and graves around the mine, an information kiosk with a guestbook, and a large shaft that is fenced off. A walking route through the townsite passes an overlook of the 20-stamp mill site, and a steep track northwest of the kiosk climbs to a big water reservoir above the town, said to have held a million gallons. We haven't seen the site, and the newest of these reports is from 2022.
The historic maps below show the mine in its setting. The 1926 Fortuna sheet marks the Fortuna Mine and a few buildings at the mouth of a canyon, reached by a road from the northwest. The 1942 sheet shows roads branching south toward Tinajas Altas on the Camino del Diablo. The 1965 Fortuna Mine sheet is the most detailed, with the tailings, a water tank, scattered buildings and the "approximate west route" of the old road, all under the lettering of the Air Force range. By 1993 the range carries Barry Goldwater's name.
- Building ruins and foundations
- Graves
- Main shaft (fenced)
- Water reservoir on the hill
- Mill site and tailings
- Information kiosk and guestbook
Historic maps
Fortuna on USGS maps, 1926–1993
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.
Map & directions
Getting there
Yuma is the closest city. Both routes leave I-8 at Foothills Boulevard, run south through Fortuna Foothills on paved streets and then follow dirt roads about 8 miles onto the Goldwater Range and into the mountains. Get your range permit and check in before you cross onto range land. We haven't driven the route; a 2022 guide describes a slightly different start, from the south end of Avenue 15E.
Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.
- From downtown Yuma, take 19th Street and 4th Avenue to 16th Street.0.6 mi
- Turn right on 16th Street and take the ramp onto I-8 east.1.2 mi
- Follow I-8 east.11.4 mi
- Exit and turn right on Foothills Boulevard.1.2 mi
- Turn left on 40th Street, then right on Ironwood Drive and follow it south to its end.2.5 mi
- Jog left on County 14th Street, then turn right onto the dirt road heading south onto the range.2.8 mi
- Turn sharp left on Camino del Diablo Oeste, then right on the track that runs southeast toward the mountains.4.7 mi
- Follow Dripping Springs Road and the mine tracks into the townsite.1.0 mi
- From downtown Phoenix, take I-10 west.32.6 mi
- Take exit 112 and follow AZ 85 south to I-8 at Gila Bend.37.9 mi
- Take I-8 west toward Yuma, exit at Foothills Boulevard and turn left.101.5 mi
- Turn left on 40th Street, then right on Ironwood Drive and follow it south to its end.2.5 mi
- Jog left on County 14th Street, then turn right onto the dirt road heading south onto the range.2.8 mi
- Turn sharp left on Camino del Diablo Oeste, then right on the track that runs southeast toward the mountains.4.7 mi
- Follow Dripping Springs Road and the mine tracks into the townsite.1.0 mi
Road and safety notes
- You need a Barry M. Goldwater Range permit from bmgr.recaccess.com. Each visitor signs a hold-harmless form and watches a safety video, keeps one copy of the permit on them and one on the dashboard, and checks in through RecAccess before entering. Anyone under 18 must be with an adult. Trail guides describe the permit as free.
- This is an active military range. Parts of it close for operations, so check current closures before you drive out.
- The last 8 miles or so are dirt. A 2022 guide rated the road to the mine 3 out of 10, with a few rocky, eroded wash crossings where high clearance helps, and said 2WD was fine. An undated listing calls it 4WD.
- The main shaft is fenced. Stay out of every shaft and adit, and stay off the tailings.
- Range rules protect cultural sites. Leave artifacts where they are.
- There's no water or service at the site, and summers are dangerously hot. Go between fall and spring.
Photos
Have photos of Fortuna?
We haven’t added more photographs of Fortuna yet. If you’ve visited, share your photos and a field report below.
The Arizona Historical Society holds a photograph of Fortuna wagon trains.
Visitor reports
Been to Fortuna?
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.
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Nearby
Other sites near Fortuna
Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Arizona index.
- Dome14.2 mi N · Yuma
- Gila City14.5 mi N · Yuma
- Filibusters Camp18.3 mi NE · Yuma
- La Laguna20.6 mi NW · Yuma
- Colorado City21.3 mi NW · Yuma
- Pedrick's28.1 mi W · Yuma
- Castle Dome Landing29.6 mi N · Yuma
- Peterman's Station33.5 mi NE · Yuma
Sources
Sources and credits
- ghosttowns.com, "Fortuna": fact sheet fields (county, roads, legal description, climate, best time, remains, post office dates).
- Wikipedia, "Fortuna, Arizona", retrieved October 2026: the GNIS coordinates, the Sunset Route, the 1893 discovery date, the post office closing and Blaisdell.
- Stephen M. Richard, Charles Ferguson and Steven Skotnicki, Geology of the Fortuna Mine, Yuma County, Arizona, Arizona Geological Survey Open-File Report 97-16 (1997, revised 1999): location on the range, discoverers, Lane and the Harquahala crew, the pipeline, Blake's visit, shafts, production to 1904 and 1926, later work to 1942, the 1966 claim sale.
- William Ascarza, "Mine Tales: Peak's riches lured plenty of prospectors," Arizona Daily Star: distance from Yuma, elevation, the Camino del Diablo, Blake on the water, the mill years, the Elan and Maitland work.
- AZOffroad.net, "Fortuna Mine" (drawing on the on-site information board, 2016): the campfire story, the $150,000 sale, 14-mile pipeline, population and businesses, mule teams, what remains.
- AZOffroad.net, "Fortuna Mine Trail" (updated August 9, 2022): route, road rating, kiosk, shaft and reservoir, status open, permits and closures.
- Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Recreation, as of October 2026: range history, share open to the public, RecAccess permits, hold-harmless form, safety video, check-in, Range Permit Office number, restricted airspace.
- Lute's Casino, official site: address and hours, as of October 2026.
- Mine coordinates: USGS Mineral Resources Data System records 10113627 and 10027250. Siding: USGS GNIS feature 24422 and the USGS Fortuna 1:62,500 sheet (1926).
- Land status: BLM Surface Management Agency dataset, queried October 19, 2026 (military range land at the mine). Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026. Not field-checked.
Photo and map credits
- The 1926 USGS Fortuna sheet marks the mine and a few buildings at the mouth of a canyon: U.S. Geological Survey, USGS catalog, Public domain
- Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
- Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Fortuna 1926, 1:62,500; Yuma 1942, 1:250,000; El Centro 1954, 1:250,000; Fortuna Mine 1965, 1:24,000; Yuma 1993, 1:100,000.