In search of some of the most spectacular scenery in Arizona, then you must take the Apache Trail Scenic Drive. The 39 miles of road, paved and unpaved, wind their way through sharp curves and narrow stretches of road along the north side of the rugged Superstition Mountain Wilderness Area past the south side of Canyon and Apache Lakes. Unfortunately, the unpaved portion that is the eastern half of the trail is closed due to road damage. However, the drive along the paved on/off section is well worth the effort and time, where the highway passes over two one-lane steel arched bridges with views of Canyon Lake and Needle Point providing breathtaking views. Arizona photo opportunities. scenery.

The drive across Highway 60 and 188 to reach the east side of the Apache Trail, where a few miles of paved section remain open, provides spectacular Arizona scenery. The east side of the turnoff shows Inspiration Point, where the view of Lake Roosevelt with the mountains as a backdrop is nothing short of spectacular. Just a mile offers a view of the Roosevelt Dam that holds back the Salt River Lake. Visiting the Tonto National Monument at the end of the street makes the trip even more attractive.

The Tonto Basin is very rich in history and has been occupied by numerous types of people for thousands of years, with the Salado people leaving behind the largest number of artifacts dating back some 700 years. With only a few modifications made by archaeologists at Tonto National Monument for ease of visitation and safety, the dwelling displays remarkable architecture of the Salado people. Access to the lower cliff dwelling requires a one mile round trip hike over a paved walkway that is steep with a 350 foot elevation change with stairs to reach the top. However, this house was limited by the size of the alcove which is 40 feet high, 85 feet long and 48 feet deep, where each room housed a family and a covered corridor divided the house in half. Even today, some of the ceilings remain partially intact, where the ceilings and walls still have smoke stains from their cooking fires. In addition to the cliff dwelling, the trail offers some stunning photo opportunities of Lake Roosevelt in the cactus-studded desert valley below.

On the western edge of the Apache Trail is Goldfield Ghost Town, where you can enjoy the excitement of Arizona’s Wild West. In Goldfield’s heyday in the 1890s, the town contained 3 saloons, a general store, a blacksmith shop, a brewery, a meat market, a school, and a boarding house. Unfortunately, the gold vein failed causing the city to die a slow and painful death. Today, the historic buildings along Main Street are lined with gift shops with gold mine tours and a narrow gauge train ride with other opportunities for visitors to experience what the Wild West was like. Arizona.

Just west of Phoenix in the White Mountains is White Mountain Regional Park, best known for its bike trails and walking trails, ranging from short easy trails to challenging all-day trails. The two most popular and most walked are the Black Rock Loops and the Waterfall Trail. The Black Loop trail is a 0.5-mile or 1.3-mile loop through a Hohokam town with signs along the way explaining the desert plants and wildlife that live here. The 2 mile round trip Waterfall trail starts at a concrete walkway across the desert floor ending at the midpoint where Petroglyph Plaza is located, here you can see a large number of petroglyphs dating back 800 years. The rest of the trail is over loose dirt and rocks before ending in a narrow granite box canton where there is a refreshing pool of water on the canyon floor that the kids love to play in. Unfortunately, the water only falls on the cliff face after heavy rain.