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may 2013 Tale Of Two Trails - goldfield Ghost Town - Photo 48513255

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The Goldfield Ghost Town harkens back to 1892 when this settlement burst forth due to a gold strike here. The town grew to about 1,500 in its heyday, but dwindled when the gold ran dry. A reconstructed town on the old Goldfield Mill site shares some of this bygone history of early mining days.

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You’ll find several historical sites, mine locations, and attractions on the south end of the Apache Trail that celebrate the pioneering spirit. The Superstition Mountain Museum preserves artifacts of the area where inhabitants lived some 9,000 years ago. American Indians, Spaniards, and early American explorers are all part of history here.

The Goldfield Ghost Town harkens back to 1892 when this settlement burst forth due to a gold strike here. The town grew to about 1,500 in its heyday, but dwindled when the gold ran dry. A reconstructed town on the old Goldfield Mill site shares some of this bygone history of early mining days.

Between Usery Pass and the Apache Trail, and south of the Salt River, lies Bulldog Canyon. We did some exploring on 4WD trails amongst the Goldfield Mountains in this OHV area. Access is granted by permit only. You can get a free six-month permit from the Mesa Ranger District office of the Tonto National Forest.

Farther up the Apache Trail is the small settlement of Tortilla Flat, claiming a town population of only six. It was a common stop for freight haulers headed to Roosevelt Dam in the early 1900s, and it later became a popular stage stop for visitors and mail carriers. Today it boasts a restaurant, saloon, and a few other businesses.

The town name presumably came from one of several incidents when some residents in the area were left stranded in a flat due to flash flooding. They persisted on tortillas they made from flour while waiting out the flood, and the name Tortilla Flat came to be from one of these events.

The views all along the Apache Trail north of Tortilla Flat offer scenic spans of desert painted in colorful hues. Agave, prickly pear, and other cacti flourish in this arid landscape.

This is the view heading down toward Horse Mesa with Apache Lake down below. The dirt road weaves in switchbacks as it winds down about 700 feet in elevation to Fish Creek Hill.

There were other trails that meandered off the side of the main road, but we hadn’t the time to explore them all. We left some for a later date to find where they may lead.

The Apache Trail descends rapidly down to the bottom of the canyon. The one-lane bridge at Fish Creek sits at the bottom of a 10 percent grade. This hill has history dating back to about 1906 as a hill used for automotive testing.

All along the dirt road that winds through the Apache Trail are views of the mountain reservoirs formed with the chain of dams. Here you can explore these canyons by 4WD or other wheeled means, on foot or horseback, or by boat.

The Roosevelt Dam holds back flow at the highest body of water in the chain of four lakes. It was originally constructed between 1905 and 1911. When it was completed, it was the tallest masonry dam in the world, standing 280 feet tall. It was also raised and expanded in 1989 to 1996.

We started onto the Four Peaks trail at El Oso Road and began climbing in elevation above Roosevelt Lake. These trails are all fairly easy but can get sloppier when wet or during winter snowfall. The trees turn from scrub to larger pines in the higher elevations,.

We found the El Oso Mine blasted into the side of a face near Pine Mountain. Here, in 1941, prospectors were looking for deposits of tungsten and molybdenum in a mile-wide belt of granite porphyry. The shaft is tall enough to stand up in and records show it extends about 400 feet into the rock. There are still some ore car rail remnants on the floor.

Crossing over a saddle in the mountains, we put Four Peaks behind us and continued southward on Forest Service Road 143.

We made several low wash crossings that were all dry on the day we were exploring. But, the big cottonwoods that are common in these wetter spots were turning a golden color as the fall temperatures were arriving.

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