Less than 200 miles from our last stop in Bisbee, Silver City is another quaint and quirky locale. Originally an Apache camp, Silver (as the locals call it) mushroomed into a mining town with the discovery of silver ore in the 1870s. It’s still a mining town (copper, now) and retains its rough-around-the-edges Western frontier atmosphere. An influx of artists, musicians, and restaurateurs over the past several decades has brought an interesting mix of art galleries, music events, and creative restaurants to town.
A Fun Day Of Blues
Every Memorial Day weekend, the Mimbres Region Arts Council presents the Silver City Blues Festival, considered to be the premier blues festival in the Southwest. For three days, downtown Gough Park is transformed into an outdoor blues club, featuring well-known blues artists and rising stars. The music is fantastic, the crowd is enthusiastic, and it’s a great party.
We toted in our chairs and a picnic and spent all day enjoying the music.
Just as much fun was watching the audience dancing and partying to the music. Check out the guy in the orange Harley t-shirt when he REALLY gets grooving:
Enjoying The Ambiance Of Silver City
Silver City is small (population 10,500) with a very walkable historic downtown area. The architecture is an eclectic mix of frontier western, Victorian, and art deco decked out in a candy-colored paint palette. The buildings almost glow in the late afternoon southwestern light.
Although the street art doesn’t achieve the fervor of Bisbeeans, there are plenty of mosaics and murals decorating the town. And if you enjoy art—or just want to stroll down a colorful street—Yankie Street is home to an array of independent galleries.
Cafe 1zero6
We’re always on the lookout for unique dining experiences, and this was one of the best. It’s tiny and eclectic, with a colorful Buddhist/East Indian/Mexican décor. Open only on weekends, the owner/chef offers three entrees that change weekly (we had shrimp in green curry and pork kebabs with tamarind glaze). Jake is a colorful character, heavily tattooed, and wildly creative (and meticulous) in his kitchen. We hung out with him in his backyard herb garden after our delicious meal and talked about food, travel, and life in Silver City.
The Dragonfly Trail
Silver City backs up to the Gila National Forest, with 2.7 million acres containing native cultural sites, trails, and hot springs. On this visit, we hiked the Dragonfly Trail, just three miles outside of town. It’s a beautiful four-mile hike. Even though it was a holiday weekend, we mostly had it to ourselves.
The petroglyphs were the work of the Mimbres, native peoples who inhabited southwestern New Mexico from A.D. 1000 to A.D. 1250. No one knows for certain the meaning of the dragonfly petroglyphs—perhaps they were symbolic of nearby water. We certainly saw an abundance of the little flying jewels near the creek while we were hiking and searching for rock art.
About The RV Park
We stayed at Rose Valley RV Ranch, a former dairy farm with spacious sites, private cedar fenced patios, and rustic western décor (windmill, antique farm implements, etc.). It’s quiet and dark and just a couple of miles from downtown. They accept a combination of Passport America and Good Sam, which brought the rates to about $20 a night for our three-night stay.
We really enjoyed our stay in Silver City in spring of 2013. Rose Valley has some of the largest sites in a private park we’d ever seen, it was a great place to stay! Loved the dragonfly trail too. Did you happen to check out the excellent thrift store behind your sandy courtyard photo above?
We liked Rose Valley RV park a lot, although we also enjoyed Manzano’s on our last visit. It’s nice to have a couple of great parks to choose from! We spent some time in the thrift store a couple of years ago — meant to go back, but time got away from us. I’ll have to check your blog to see your adventures there!
You do such a fabulous job of giving the flavor of every one of these darling little towns you find. I am the odd man out if both of you had heard of Silver. Such a cute town AND petroglyphs on a hike. No wonder you keep coming back. I’d stay a week too. In fact I’d stay a week in just about every place you post about. Love the WHOA. David and I think the Chambers of Commerce should buy your pictures to sell their town.
Sherry, this is another town that I think you and David would really enjoy — there’s so much to do, and the Gila Wilderness is close by for plenty of hiking adventures. (We could meet there!) I appreciate your nice comments about our photos. ;-)
Sounds like you timed this visit perfectly. I wanted to visit Silver City when we were camped at City of Rocks, but we were just passing through. Next time we’ll need to stay longer and take in some of these unique sights.
It was pure luck for us to be there during the Blues Festival (although we’re always on the lookout for festivals). Definitely plan on a week-long visit when you return to the area! We’ve not been to City of Rocks, but it’s on our list.
We had friends that lived in Silver City a couple of years ago when we stopped through. We really enjoyed the vibe of the area and felt fortunate to have local tour guides. Unfortunately the weather was not great when we were there but we’d love to go back and explore this part of NM more.
Lucky you to have local tour guides! We’ve spent quite a bit of time in New Mexico over the years, but it seems there’s always so much more to do. And some places, like Silver City, deserve an extended visit. We’re wanting to spend more time in the nearby Mimbres Valley, too. Maybe we’ll see you there!
What a fantastic weekend! How cool that the music was free:) That guy in the orange was totally comfortable with himself for sure. He really cranked it up!!
The restaurant sounds great. Thanks for the suggestion.
I love the colorful art district…great colors!
Pam, it was a blast! We’re amazed at how much good free music we’re finding in our travels. Watching the crowd was fun, too — that guy in the orange t-shirt danced like that for hours.
Sounds like a great time in Silver City! I love a good outdoor concert- especially when it’s free!!! We only spent a day exploring Silver City, but it was enough time to get a feel for the town and decide that we would like to return someday. Love your photos of all the colorful murals and buildings around town :)
Thanks, Amanda! We love concerts, too, and are finding a lot of music in our travels. It’s such a colorful, fun town (as you know) — we could easily spend a couple of weeks there. I wanted to go to the museum (I remember reading about it in your post, but we ran out of time). Next visit!
Hey Laurel, NM is a state we need to explore more and guess what? You have given us plenty of ideas.
That guy in the orange shirt is sure having fun. I can rely on you to give us wonderful colorful photos of towns you visited which entices us of course.
MonaLiza, we LOVE New Mexico — we’ve visited many times, but there’s so much more to explore! And we enjoy returning to places we enjoyed the first time around, because there’s always something new!