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Big Bug

Ghost town · Yavapai County, Arizona

Mayer quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1947, 1:62,500)
Mayer quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1947, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Big Bug is a ghost town in Yavapai County, Arizona. It is one of 15 former communities in Yavapai County on the federal names register. No county in Arizona has more among the 15 Arizona counties with a vanished settlement on record.

Big Bug was established in 1862, in the Civil War era.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Big Bug as a historical populated place: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 34.3150° N, 112.0670° W.

Key facts

Founded1862
Elevation3,460 ft
Nearest living townCordes Lakes, AZ
Distance to it2.3 miles
Coordinates34.31500, -112.06700

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Big Bug is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Cordes Lakes, AZ (population 3,218), about 2.3 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 3,460 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Images

Big Bug Smelter, Boggs Smelter and Big Bug — near Prescott, Arizona, circa 1900. Image courtesy of Sharlot Hall Museum (Yavapai County, Arizona).
Big Bug Smelter, Boggs Smelter and Big Bug — near Prescott, Arizona, circa 1900. Image courtesy of Sharlot Hall Museum (Yavapai County, Arizona). · E.M. Jenning / Wikimedia Commons · public-domain

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Big Bug?

Big Bug is in Yavapai County, Arizona, at 34.3150, -112.0670.

How many ghost towns are in Yavapai County?

Yavapai County, Arizona has 15 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.