Cave Creek Museum — Attraction in Cave Creek

It was a bit hidden and hard to find. You have to drive through the downtown area and then make a turn onto a small street. From there, you pass the church and then the museum is on your right. The people working the front desk were friendly and really did their best to make you feel welcome.

The museum itself felt a bit small.. and it took me a little over an hour to see. They have 3 indoor exhibits and a gift shop plus some displays on the outside. -To the right of when you enter, there are displays about Indians that lived in this region- pottery, tools, etc. There was definitely a lot to read! My favorite part were the scale models of their housing, and I also liked the replica of an Indian home as well. (However, I was not a fan of the one song they had on repeat every 3 minutes in that exhibit area). -The center exhibit hall shows photos of modern day houses in the area. It was amazing to see how breathtakingly beautiful they are, and it was nice to see how the architects were able to even incorporate some of the borders into the houses. -The exhibit to the left showed the history of mining, exploration and ranches. Loved the replica of the mine! -Lastly, on the outside, there was a display of an old house that you can peek in, a church that you can enter, and a fenced off area of some old artifacts and machines.

Overall...

The most impressive part of this facility, is the dedication of the volunteers. They do a whole demonstration of the mining equipment a few times a year, and they are really committed to keeping the history alive. And the people working in the shop are super friendly. The whole place was really cool. I took a friend from overseas who had zero interest in mining, but she still found lots to see. Worth the 1 hour drive for us.

If you want to visit on a demonstration day, be sure to buy your tix in advance, bc our tour was sold out.

BTW we went back out to the mine entrance to take photos, and heard what we thought was a stray cat. Then, the sound changed to a barking sound. Then a bird sound! We couldn't see the vocalist, but we suspect a Mockingbird, since we'd seen one out there, earlier in the day. He was really funny to...

Part of the culture pass found in most area libraries. Quaint Museum just behind the main street of Cave Creek. One route is not far from Oregano's pizza, and looks like you are going through a neighborhood, because you are. The other route is by the Olive Oil store, which looks like an alley way through the neighborhood, than an actual road (I think it's both). Houses some of the items found in Cave Creek by the first settlers, and the generations of the 20th century settlers. There is a really small active church onsite, and outdoors are some of the equipment used to help populate Cave Creek in its younger years. The foliage and resident animal inhabitants are small and quick, just like the lot of the museum...blink and you...