Heading West

The southern leg of our journey is done for now and we’re now heading west. We’re taking the trek much slower than we have in the past, stopping after only 3-4 hours of driving. One of the many things we’ve learned over he course of our travels is to take things slow. Take a much more relaxed pace and give ourselves more time to check out more things as we travel. You never know what we might stumble upon.

Serendipity Strikes

One such ‘occurrence ‘stumble’ occurred when we pulled off for the night in the small town of Sonora, TX. I had noticed a billboard advertising the Caverns of Sonora on the way and thought we would spend an extra day to check them out. We’re very glad we did. Turns out, the Caverns of Sonora is internationally recognized as one of the most beautiful show caves on the planet. Located 15 miles southwest of Sonora, Texas on I-10, the Caverns of Sonora marks the halfway point between San Antonio, TX and Big Bend National Park. They have a decent campground here, as well. This is definitely worth a stop.

Kartchner Caverns

After visiting the Caverns of Sonora, we continued heading west toward our first scheduled stop to see some different caverns at Kartchner Caverns State Park. This park tops the list of the best state parks in Arizona so we thought we would give it a try. There are several hikes in the park to stretch your legs on that give you some great views of the surrounding mountains. But the big draw here is obviously the caverns. Two friends were out searching for caves all over Arizona and stumbled onto these. The friends kept them a secret for a few years while they explored them and to keep them from being vandalized. Eventually, the state bought the land from the owners and turned it into the state park.

There are two tours, each lasting about 90 minutes and highlighting two different rooms of the caves. You can’t take pictures here due to the irresponsible behavior of some guests, like dropping phones and cameras over the edge, or jostling children trying to get into position to take a shot. They do have photography tours you can schedule if you absolutely must have photos. Or you can just buy a package of postcards in the gift shop like we did.

The state park sits at the base of the Whetstone Mountains at 4300 feet so take that into consideration before making your reservations. I didn’t and discovered January is probably not the best time of year to visit. It seemed like a good idea in July but not so much when we got there.

Tombstone

Not too far away is the town of Tombstone, known as the ‘town too tough to die’ and famous for the shootout at the OK Corral. There are plenty of shops, gunfight shows, re-enactments, museums and other touristy things to do here.  You can learn Tombstone’s history while taking a ride on a stagecoach or on one of the area’s Trolley’s. Tombstone is called “The Town Too Tough to Die”, but not for the wild, gun-toting, shoot ’em up reason you might think. The town had two major fires destroyed much of the downtown business district. The first happened in June of 1881 and the second fire 11 months later in May of 1882.  After each catastrophe, Tombstone was rebuilt within six months. 

A Short Break

After our visit to Kartchner Caverns, we spent some time at E 96 Ranch Road, one of our favorite spots to boondock. The scenery and bird watching is great here and the sunsets are real and they are spectacular. For those that missed it, that was a Seinfeld reference.

Lost Dutchman Mine

Afterwards, we headed for Lost Dutchman State Park, another top rated state park in Arizona. The park is located at the base of the Superstition Mountains with plenty of outdoor activities available, both in the park and surrounding area. We had a prime campsite with an unobstructed view of the mountains. Not a bad backyard.

There are plenty of hiking trails starting in the park and plenty more a short drive away up into the Tonto National Forest. Horseback riding is available just down the road. And we met some hikers heading up to the top with their parachutes to do some cliff jumping, if your into that sort of adrenaline rush. There was even someone flying an ultra-light around the mountains. And for those not into outdoorsy thing, Tortilla Flats is a short, beautiful drive up the Apache Trail. This road is probably one of the most spectacular drives in the US. Maybe rent a Slingshot in Apache Junction to make the trip.

Goldfield Ghost Town

Another option if you’re not in the mood for outdoor adventure, is to visit the Goldfield Ghost Town, not far from the entrance to the state park. The town of Goldfield sprang up due to the many mining operations in the area. Back in the 1890′s, Goldfield boasted 3 saloons, a boarding house, general store, blacksmith shop, brewery, meat market and a school house. Just when it looked like the town would outgrow Mesa, the mines flooded, the grade of ore dropped and the town died a slow painful death. There’s a short narrow gauge train ride around the town that fills you in on the history of the area. You can also take a tour of the Mammoth Mine. And when you get hungry, you can get a good meal in the Mammoth Saloon. A visit here is a fun way to spend a few hours.

Superstition Museum

Another good place to visit for the outdoor adverse is the Superstition Mountain Lost Dutchman Museum, just down the road from Goldfield Ghost Town. Walking tours of the grounds are free while the museum has a very reasonable entrance fee. The outdoor area has numerous outdoor structures and exhibits of things used during the mining years. There’s a huge working 20-stamp gold mill, a historical model railroad, Western storefronts, a gift shop/bookstore and a labeled nature trail. The museum has a timeline and exhibits detailing the stories, both true and mythical, of the ancient inhabitants and the Old West in the Superstition Mountain area. One such mythical tale is the story of Lost Dutchman Mine. The miner died in the late 1800’s before he could reveal the location to friends. Despite many attempts, no one has ever found the mine.

Apacheland Movie Ranch

Also on the site of The Superstition Museum are the Apacheland Barn and the Elvis Chapel. The Apacheland Movie Ranch was an 1,800-acre movie set, located about 40 miles east of Phoenix near what is now Gold Canyon. If you are of a certain age, you might remember “Have Gun — Will Travel” and “Death Valley Days”. These were among the many shows and movies made here. A fire on May 25, 1969 destroyed most of the buildings. The owners rebuilt the sets and filming resumed. Another fire Feb. 14, 2004, consumed the property again, and that was the end of its movie-set days. Only the so-called Elvis Chapel, built for use in the Western movie “Charro,” (starring a young, bearded Elvis Presley) and the Apacheland Barn survived. The barn appears in many Western films shot in Apacheland in the 1950s and 1960s.

Heading Further West

Heading further west, we set up camp near Lake Havasu City in the Craggy Wash BLM area. Craggy Wash is in the Mohave Mountains and being here turned into one of our favorite camping experiences. There were a lot of people here but we still felt pretty isolated. There are plenty of hiking opportunities around and the views are stunning – especially when you get to the top of a hill. Although there aren’t any marked or maintained trails, there are plenty of hills and ridges to be climbed.

And of course the sunsets were amazing from up here.

Lake Havasu City

We took a day trip to Lake Havasu City a few years ago, mostly to check out the London Bridge. This year, with our go slow approach to traveling, we saw more of why Lake Havasu is such a popular tourist area. Of course, we revisited the London Bridge, which I learned this year is the second-most visited tourist attraction in Arizona, after the Grand Canyon. The bridge was bought, deconstructed, shipped, and reconstructed here in the late 1960’s by Robert McCulloch, of chainsaw fame, for between 9 and 10 million dollars. He more than made up for his investment by marketing and developing the area into the tourist attraction it is today.

But, Wait! There’s more!

But Lake Havasu City is a lot more than just the location of the London Bridge. With the surrounding mountains, there’s plenty of hiking, mountain biking and roads for off-road vehicles. The lake has plenty of coves to explore via kayak or any type of boat. There are plenty of beaches that mingle with palm trees, mountains, and rock formations, creating a very unique Arizona experience. There is even a ferry that takes you to the Havasu Landing Resort and Casino on the California side of the lake. And here’s a trivia tidbit – Havasu in the Chemehuevi Indian language means ‘blue green water’.

Another thing unique to the area are the 28 scaled down replica lighthouses that dot the shore of the lake. Each one is a replica of an actual working lighthouse in the US and Canada. You can drive around the 400 mile shoreline to see them all or you can catch the majority of them by taking a narrated lake tour with Sunset Charter and Tour Co., which I highly recommend. You get a totally different perspective of Lake Havasu City and see what makes the lake a huge tourist draw. And you can really see why the local Indians called the water havasu.

We’re done heading west and now it’s time to turn around. We’ll be stopping to visit family for awhile and then we’ll begin slow, eastward trek back home. I’m not sure where that will take us but we’re always up for a new adventure. Stay tuned.