Casa Grande Trading Post, Petting Zoo & Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum
Out for a drive? A great stop along the Turquoise Trail is the Casa Grande Trading Post, Petting Zoo & Mining Museum. This 28 room hand built adobe building, housing the Trading Post-(gifts, rocks, bottles, and antiques), Turquoise Mining Museum (maps, displays, dioramas,rock collection and antiques of the area), and the world famous Cerrillos Petting Zoo- (20 animals, goats, llama, turkey, fancy chickens, and pigeons) is the perfect place for a day trip adventure with the family! Located on the Historic Turquoise Trail.
Animal food available. Exclusive Natural Cerrillos Turquoise - locally made gifts, rock shop, old bottles, mining museum, scenic overlook, the Casa Grande has also been featured on PBS' Antiques Roadshow.
CERRILLOS TURQUOISE
Todd and Patricia Brown are the registered claim holders of the Little Chalchihuitl Turquoise mine in the nearby hills of Cerrillos, New Mexico. The Cerrillos HIlls mining district is home to some of the oldest and most substantial turquoise working in North America, utilized from at least 900AD and possibly earlier. By the 20th century most of the Cerrillos turquoise lodes were cleaned out. Today a few hardy souls wrest bits of the famous blue-green stone from private claims. You will find examples of the Cerrillos Turquoise found by the Brown's at the family owned Casa Grande Trading Post and Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum in the village of Cerrillos, New Mexico.
Patricia showing off samples of Natural Cerrillos Turquoise from the mine.
