On a personal note regarding visiting Copper Creek: This was the most challenging ghost town to reach so far. The road turns to dirt out of the historic town of Mammoth. Eventually the road narrows, becomes steeper and quite filled with rocks. For the final leg in I'd definitely recommend 4 WD and high clearance. We didn't need the 4 WD until we had to start the climb back out of the canyon over a rock strewn road. There are no road signs anywhere so you need to take a good look at roads you pass by. That said, it was well worth the trip into this beautiful country. Plan a whole day for this ghost town trip.

Mining began here in the mid 1800's. E.R. Sibley established the town and even built a mansion. (We didn't reach the mansion ruins on this trip as it was an extra 1 1/2 mile walk up the creek.) In 1910 there were 200 residents but by 1917, the mines had closed and soon all buildings were abandoned. I understand that after an article appeared in the paper, vandals did a lot of damage to the site.
Today mining is still going on in the area.