On Sunday we took a driving tour of the Apache Trail, which heads out of Apache Junction and winds through the Superstition Mountains.
The road passes Canyon Lake, a reservoir with dramatic cliff walls. At 9:30 am there were already kids swimming in the lake.
We knew the road would be windy, but we were surprised when the pavement stopped and the route became a bone - rattling washboard gravel road. It wound up to the summit in the Superstition Mountains with a great view of the rocky cliffs.
Then it became a windy, precipice clinging one laner till it descended to a bridge over Fish Creek. We stopped in the canyon and went for a short walk under the cottonwoods and sycamore trees.
The road then climbed up again till we had a view overlooking Roosevelt Reservoir.
Then the road widened and became paved. Our last stop was the Tonto National Monument. They've built a wheelchair accessible pathway that switches back and forth up to the ruins, protected by a natural overhang.
The whole hillside was covered with flowers in among the saguaro and other cacti.
It was breathtakingly beautiful. We were allowed to walk through the ruins as long as we did not touch the walls.
In the evening we walked the trails around the campsite, only to find them full of photographers taking advantage of the golden hour to take glamour shots and family portraits against the Superstition Mountains. So we had to take one ourselves.
That looks stunning! Not only the glamour shot, but the cholla cacti spaced among the saguaro and the yellow fluffy things.
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