Lost Dutchman State Park

The Superstition Mountains lay in the Sonoran Desert just east of Mesa, Arizona and was said to have received it's name by old Indian Legends. Back to the 1800's. there was a tale of a Mexican family who struck gold, and on the way back to Mexico, they were ambushed and killed by the Apache Indians. To this day, they call this area Massacre Grounds. I can say with almost certainty, your chances of finding gold and being ambushed by Indians is minimal. What you will find these days, is a great state park that offers camping, picnicking, hiking, and sightseeing adventures. Most popular in fall through spring you can enjoy the state park's 7 trails. They range from .25 mile to 5.8 miles. The daddy of them all, is the Siphon Trail, which leads you to the the top which is called the Flatiron. This trail is recommended for experienced hikers only who are in good shape. It takes around 5 hours or so to complete this trail. In the event you're not into hiking and want to just take in the view with a family picnic, the park offers 2 day use areas with covered picnic tables and bathroom facilities. If you still want to take your adventure just a little further, then you will enjoy the parks campground. It offers 72 campsites which 38 of them have electric and water hookups. The park offers showers, visitors center, and a dump station. There is a 15 day limit stay, and checkout time is 2 pm. Fees are around $15 per night. You can also reserve for group camping as well. Now if that's not enough, you can download the monthly calendar of events that the park puts on. These include astronomy programs, ranger led moonlight hikes, pet friendly hikes, geology hikes, and much much more. If you're inclined to be more adventurous and want to explore outside of the park, head east along the Apache trail and you'll end up at Canyon Lake, and Tortilla Flats. If you keep going, you will eventually end up passing Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake. Right now is a great time to explore the superstition wilderness. The volcanic rock formations, and wildlife are just breathtaking. Remember, always pack out what you pack in. Never leave a trace and always respect wildlife. For more information contact the park at 480-982-4485. For info online visit azstateparks.com

Jerome, Arizona

Well it wasn't my first time and positive it won't be my last time to visit Jerome, Arizona. Practically a native , I have enjoyed coming here ever since I was a young girl. On our way north on Interstate 17 this morning, we decided to take the back way using Hwy 169-89A up through the historic Mingus Scenic Drive. The colors of fall have faded, but to our delight, there were patches of snow as a reminder we are in the dead of winter in Arizona. The road is a bit windy, so be careful not to take the turns too fast. About a 19 mile drive is all it took until it dropped us right into Jerome. As a historical landmark in Arizona, this old mining town with a population of over 450, still stands strong today. To give you a bit of it's history, it was founded in 1876,and was once the fourth largest city in the Arizona Territory.It is also said that Jerome is the biggest ghost town in Arizona as well. I think the scariest part in my opinion is, that most of the dwelling's are practically hanging off the cliffs. Jerome sits atop Cleopatra Hill at approx (5,200 feet) between Prescott and Flagstaff. The view from up there is so spectacular as you see the red rocks of Sedona, and the San Francisco Peaks protruding from behind. Today was breezy and cold, but nothing stopped us from eating at the famous Jerome Palace Haunted Hamburger. I first heard of this restaurant in an article in Arizona Highways magazine. It is said that a ghost of a woman appears from time to time, and when renovations were underway at one point, tools started to disappear and then reappear once it was talked about them disappearing. This is a small, fast paced restaurant, with indoor and outdoor seating with a breathtaking view of the Verde Valley. But most importantly, they have the best hamburgers in town. I highly recommend this place and you will also enjoy so much more on the menu. Whenever you get a chance I encourage you visit Jerome. The people are friendly, the food is fantastic, and the views are a site to see. Oh, and don't forget to check out Copper Country Fudge. visit them in person in Jerome, or visit them online at coppercountryfudge.com you will be in for a treat!

Cave Creek, Arizona

When you hear the word Cave Creek, what words come to mind? Cowboys, shopping, food, or maybe even stagecoach? Well, all of the above and much much more. I had the pleasure of visiting the town of Cave Creek many times growing up and still enjoy it today. Just this past week my sister and I decided to have lunch at the famous Satisfied Frog restaurant and bar. To our dismay, and due to financial hardship a couple years back, it was taken over by the Silver Spur Saloon & Eatery which happend to be the very restaurant we were eating at. The food was great, and the restaurant is surrounded by local merchants selling all kind of neat items such as t-shirts, hot sauce, and jewelry. After lunch we did some shopping around the area and took some pictures. With a little research of it's history here is what I found:

The town of Cave Creek is actually named after Cave Creek which still flows today. Indian settlers like the Hohokam, and the Apaches lived among the creek and grew crops. The history of permanent settlers goes back to the mid to late 1800's. The gold rush is what brought a lot of settlers to this area. Soon saloons, restaurants,a post office, and a school were built. During the 1930's and 1940's, with the construction of Bartlett Dam and Horseshoe Dam, this brought more and more activity to the area as well as electricity and telephone. In 1952 the road was paved all the way to Phoenix. Cave Creek has nearly 30K or more residents which also make up a great majority of merchants like Rose who we met manning a small indoor shop full of goods such as jewelry, ceramics, and a stuffed Javelina named Suzy. Not sure she was for sale though. Please get out and visit the town of Cave Creek. It is so full of rich south western heritage. From antique stores, to saloons, to fine dining and even western dancing, Cave Creek has it all. Y'all come down and visit ya hear!

For more information on Cave Creek visit www.cavecreek.org

Washington Park Payson, AZ Labor Day 2010

If you've ever heard of Houston Mesa Rd. it is located just off of Hwy 87 just as you pass through Payson, AZ to the right. If you have ever traveled through the beautiful mogollon rim up near Payson, you will be in for a treat when you travel this somewhat unknown but well traveled road. Just as you turn east on HMR,soon you will see the HM campground. This delightful campground has many camp sites,showers,flush toilets, picnic tables, and drinking water. The good news is, that it accepts reservations, the bad news is, there are no hookups. The next site you will encounter is the Shoofly Ruins. This is an ancient Indian dwelling that existed around 1000 to 1250 a.d. All that is left are a few broken down walls which has the appearance of a cluster of rocks. This is a self guided area, and is quite beautiful. Stop in, read the interpretive signs and make an experience of it. The next encounter you will find along HMR, is Water Wheel Campsite. Unfortunately due to a man made fire, this site is currently closed. Traveling forward along HMR FR199,venture on to FR64 until you meet up with a quaint little town called whispering Pines. If you continue on and drive onto FR32, you will enter Washington Park. When traveling along WP you will see many areas where you can disperse camp. At the end of the road, you will meet up with a couple of hiking spots like the Highline Trail, and Colonel Devin Trail. Not far from these trail heads, is where we set up camp. The spaces are large enough for RVs. Just behind us is what I believe is the Bonita Creek. We spent a lot of time down there and hiking through it. The dogs just loved it. Much to our delight, we found blackberry bushes all along the river. They were so delicious.The surrounding pine trees are enormous and some are believed to be over 200 years old. Don't just take my word for it, please get out and explore what nature has provided. Arizona is full of some spectacular places. Remember to always pack out what you pack in. Leave as little impact as possible, and never destroy wildlife. We are here as a guest. Happy traveling and camping everyone.

What the heck is Arcosanti?

Well I haven't heard that word in a long time until this morning when my mom called and asked me to tag along on a road trip in search of the perfect windbell she needed for a gift. Ok, what is a windbell, and where exactly is Arcosanti again? If you travel north on Interstate 17 (exit at 262 Cordes Junction) and turn right, you will see a sign that points to the left called Arcosanti. Travel just a few miles down and you will find it.
The founder and chief architect of Arcosanti is an Italian man known as Paolo Soleri. Paolo was born in Italy in 1919 and moved to the United States to continue with his architectural career. He purchased land in Arizona in 1956, and in 1969, Arcosanti was designed and began construction in 1970. The term Arcosanti comes from the concept of architecture and ecology. Paolo's vision is to create a urban city with little impact on the environment, and in fact using the environment's natural resources rather than man made materials. This created Arcosanti. There are several sites within Arcosanti to see. We stopped at visitors center to purchase the windbells from the gift shop, but I couldn't help but walk up and down the stairs amazed at the beautiful architecture of the five story building. They have a great cafe as well. Some of the other structures you will see on the property are an outdoor amphitheatre, community swimming pool, apartments, greenhouses, gardens, and agricultural fields.Arcosanti is still a work in progress today and is primarily used for education. People from all over the world come here for education each year, and there are workshops almost all year round which helps with funding to keep Arcosanti running just as Paolo envisioned it would. The windells are pretty amazing as well, and can be purchased and shipped right from the gift shop. Don't just take my word for it, Visit this spectacular place for yourself. For more information either visit www.arcosanti.org or call 928-632-7135. Their hours of operation are open 7 days a week from 9am -5pm and tours are scheduled on the hour from 10am -4pm. Get out and explore Arizona.

Heber/Overguard, AZ

My husband and I had a great opportunity to visit Heber, AZ to celebrate the 4th of July this year with family and friends. One thing to remember, if you plan on attending Heber/Overguard for the 4th of July, you better plan months ahead of time as the only few hotels/lodges fill up very quickly. We left the Phoenix weather behind at 110 degrees to an 85 degrees in Heber. I can't say I was upset by that. My whole idea of writing these entries is to educate my readers on great places to travel and camp in the great state of Arizona. Despite the political views one may have, Arizona is still a beautiful place to be in and explore. Now let me introduce you to Heber/Overguard. This cute town was founded in around 1877 by mormans and is named after Heber J. Grant. The neighboring town Overguard, was found much later around the 1930's. Most Arizonans will remember the most devistating wild fire in the history of AZ which was called the rodeo/chedeski fire, which burned up a total of about 467K acres. When you travel east passing through Overguard, you can still see the devistating effect it took on the forest.
Some of the neighboring cities you will find near Heber/Overguard are, Payson, Forest Lakes, Pinedale,Show Low,Snowflake,and Hollbrook.Since there are so many campgrounds in the surrounding area, I decided to attach a link here. This is for the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest. This link will also allow to you to view fire restrictions which are so important, and all additional info you may need before traveling http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf/recreation/campgrounds Happy camping and traveling everyone.

Catalina State Park Tucson, Arizona

I had the pleasure along with my husband, and our yorkie Bailey, of visiting Catalina State Park in Tucson, Arizona this past weekend, and I was pleasantly amazed at it's beauty. I had heard about this place courtesy of my sister Jennifer who visited there last weekend. This park is nestled in the Coronado National Forest just minutes from a major city, and you would not have even known it. There is so much to talk about, so I will just get right down to it. The park itself offers so many adventures like hiking, bird watching, and camping.
The park is equipped with four major camping areas. The group camp area, (2 group sites) is the only area that will take reservations. You must have a minimum of 20 people and no more than 200. Each site has a 20x40 shade ramada, fire ring (bring your own wood) BBQ grill,and picnic tables. You can reserve up to 12 months in advance. The fees are $35 for the reservation, and $15 per vehicle per night.
The equestrian staging and camping area has 8 pens available. It is a first come first serve(no charge)area, which you can either use as a day trip which will cost you $6 or you can camp for $15, but there are no hookups. Horses cannot be ridden on some of the trails, so be sure to check ahead of time.
The next camp area (site B) allows RVs with no length restrictions. This area offers water and electric hookup and contains 95 sites. Here you will pay $25 a night with a 14 day maximum stay.
The last camp site which is (site A) has no hookups available. It has 25 sites available. all three of these campgrounds are all first come first serve only. The good news is that the campground facilities have bathrooms which are absolutely huge,clean,and have showers. The bad news is, since it is a first come first serve only, you may or may not find a site. They were full when we arrived, except by some miracle, there were 2 available sites in site B. One we got, and the other went to the people who were behind us. You can also take advantage of group day use as well. There are 2 day use group areas which are available also. It has a minimum of 20 people and a maximum of 200. It has the same amenities as the group campground and you can reserve this area as well. Good news about both group sites, they have flush restrooms and showers.
Camping is not the only thing available, you can also take advantage of some of the many wonderful hikes and site seeing as well. We arrived later than we expected so I was itching to do at least something before sun down, so I decided to take off walking towards the Romero Ruins with Bailey. Derek stayed behind and napped a little. I was so amazed to find a wash just before the trail head. It was so refreshing to walk barefoot in the sand. The Ruins were amazing to see. The scenery of the mountains and all the wonderful cacti and flowers were so breathtaking. The saguaro's were so abundant as well. I was able to capture some amazing pictures also. I am not a fan of camping around a lot of people, but I have to say the sites were spaced enough apart for complete privacy. It was very quiet and relaxing. I have had so many experiences where we have been kept up half of the night with other drunk campers in the area. You could have heard a pin drop that night. All in all, I would recommend this park not just for it's great camping, scenery, hiking, but for it's cleanliness, and hospitality it's employees have provided. A personal camp host takes you right to your camp spot. What other camp ground does that? Happy Camping everyone. http://azstateparks.com/Parks/CATA/index.html

Montezuma Well

Well, when I first started this blog, I intended it to be for camping advice, but since I find myself doing more traveling than camping lately why not write about my recent adventures. Due to the weather conditions in Flagstaff, Arizona over this past weekend, my husband and I were not able to visit the Wupatki National Monument just outside of Flagstaff. This is just one site of the three we did not attend. Since we had conquered all others in Flagstaff, we decided to travel south on Interstate 17 on our way home to see if anything of interest stood out. We saw a sign for Montezuma Well and thought, "what the heck" let's see what's it's all about. To our delight, we ended up enjoying every minute of this fantastic site.
Montezuma Well is sometimes referred to as "The living Desert Oasis" It was formed some 11,000 years ago. It is 365ft across and 55ft deep. Some of the early inhabitants are the Hohokam and the Sinagua Indians. The Hohokam Indians were said to have existed there around 600 A.D. and the Sinagua Indians around 1125 A.D. Scientists are not exactly sure what drove the Indians out, but they believe it was due to fear of war, disease, crop failure or even intra-villiage rivalry. In 1853, the first white man arrived at Montezumas Well. They found the vilage abandoned except for some local Indians living there. It wasn't until April of 1947 that it became a national monument. Once you arrive, you will be happy to know that it is free to visit here. Donations are accepted and much appreciated of course. There is a slight climb to the top of the overlook of the well, but when you get there, it pretty neat to see. They have stands with an overview of the history all along the entire path. You will see cliff dwellings, turtles, ducks, and even the irrigation system that was built and is still running today. This is a must see site. I don't want to give much away, as I want you to see this for yourself.

Apache Lake, Arizona

One word come to mind when I think of Apache Lake and that is, "Beautiful". I know that just about anyone you ask ,who either lives in a different state, or just visiting Arizona, would say they have a lake just as equally beautiful they love to visit in there own state. But for me, the prettiest lake I have been to by far in Arizona, is Apache Lake.

Arizona is known for it's beautiful mountains, sunsets, and great weather. Of course there is much more, but these are just a few that come to mind. I have had the pleasure of visiting Apache Lake camping back in April of 2009, and early October 2009. The main campground area is Burnt Corral. We never did track the distance from the Marina to the campground, but if I had to guess, I would say about 7-10 miles. There are two ways to reach Apache Lake that I know of, and that is either along the historic Apache trail 88, or 188 from highway 87 north towards Payson, Arizona. If you travel from Mesa along the Apache Trail 88, some of the places you will see, is the Superstition Wilderness area, Canyon Lake, Tortilla Flat's, Fish Creek Vista, Apache lake Marina, Burnt Corral Campground, and just as you make the turn onto 188 ,the majestic Roosevelt Lake. Apache Lake has been said to be the Jewel of the Salt River Lakes. The colorful rock formations stand so tall and majestic. It is a sight you just have to see for yourself. Now let me tell you about all the cool stuff you will find near this lake. First off, you have the marina and resort. Might I add, the workers there, are all so personable and welcoming. The lake is only closed two days out of the year, and can you guess why? Well if you said Xmas and thanksgiving, you are right. But hey, they are entitled to a break right?. They have a restaurant and lounge (with seating outside facing the lake), how cool is that. They have motel rooms and suites, full service marina with boat rentals, bait shop, and a gas dock. The have a campground with full RV hookup, as well as cable TV. There is a general store with most everything, and to include firewood and ice.

Since this lake and campround are situated in the Tonto National Forest, it does require a permit. I am told you can buy them at the resort, but I did not confirm. I will attach a link to TNF, as you will find a listing as to what merchants sell them. They are good for every twenty four hours.

Burnt Coral campground, which is located about 7-10 miles north past the marina, is really nice. You will find a cement picnic table, fire ring in your camp site, and if your lucky, a water spigot as well. You will find bathrooms throughout, and a friendly camp host. Don't just take it from me, please go visit Apache lake for yourself. Here are some great links. http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto/home.shtml

http://www.apachelake.com/

Crown King, Arizona

Anyone up for some yummy homemade fudge? Well, this is just one of the many things I took advantage of while traveling through the town of Crown King, Arizona, just a couple weeks back. I find it truly fulfilling to have a husband who equally shares my interest in just short day trips at the spur of the moment. My sister Chris rode along with us on this trip as well.
Crown King, which is shortened from it's original name Crowned King Mine, is nestled in the Bradshaw mountains in the Prescott National Forest. There is plenty of history to learn from this old mining ghost town. If you arrive at Crown King hungry or thirsty, don't worry they have you covered at the CK Saloon, established in 1906 and CK Cafe. The bar is stocked and the menu has some great choices. If your a vegetarian, don't worry they have veggie burgers, and they go great with an ice cold beer. If your in the mood for fudge, visit the CK general store. I am not kidding, they have fabulous fudge and so many varieties. They will ship this fudge to wherever you would like also. What a great idea for birthday's or even Christmas. Don't forget to take advantage of the many wonderful souvenirs they have as well. I walked out of there with fudge, and two books. The prices are very reasonable as well. If you would like more information on CK, please visit their site at www.crownking.com
Lodging and Camping are just some of the many amenities they offer.