Читать книгу RoadTrip America Arizona & New Mexico: 25 Scenic Side Trips - Rick Quinn - Страница 9

Scenic Side Trip 4

Lordsburg to Phoenix

via Duncan, Safford, Globe, and Superior

237 miles, 5 hours 30 minutes for drive time, more for optional routes, stops, and sightseeing

A shortcut over the top of the world always takes a little longer

This scenic alternative route from Lordsburg to Phoenix is actually 29 miles shorter than the same drive on Interstate 10, and it bypasses Tucson and all that big-city traffic. Even so, allow a little bit of extra time; it may be a shorter distance, but there are mountain roads and beautiful views worth slowing down for.

Lordsburg to Safford

Leaving Lordsburg, take Exit 22 off I-10, and follow Main Street north to Motel Drive. Turn left and follow the signs for US 70/NM 90, toward Globe and Silver City. When NM 90 splits off to the right, just beyond the town limits, stay on US 70.

Twenty-five miles or so outside of Lordsburg, the highway angles in toward a low range of mountains dominated by a jagged peak known as Steeple Rock. To get a closer look, take the back road to Duncan by turning off US 70 north onto NM 92, toward the tiny town of Virden. It’s a small detour that will add 4 miles and 10 minutes to your travels, but hey—if you were in a hurry, you’d still be on the Interstate! The views in this area are outstanding. NM 92 leads you down to the Gila River, right at the point where it crosses into Arizona. Stay on that road, called Virden Road on the Arizona side. It will take you all the way to Duncan and reconnect you to US 70.

Duncan has a little bit of history and a few picturesque old buildings. Founded in 1882, the small town continues to serve a region still largely dependent on ranching and farming. The Lazy B, a prominent ranch just south of town, was the family home of Sandra Day O’Connor, the Arizona cowgirl who became the first female justice of the United States Supreme Court.

From Duncan to Safford you’ll follow the Gila River as it makes its way toward a far-off rendezvous with the Colorado River, on Arizona’s border with California. In the fields around Safford, water from the Gila is used to grow cotton, which, along with copper and cattle, has been a mainstay of Arizona’s economy since Territorial days. The dominant feature of the local landscape is 10,700-foot Mount Graham, a “sky island” that rises well above the horizon to the southwest (see sidebar).

Duncan Bakery, Duncan, Arizona

If you want a closer look at Mount Graham, consider taking an optional side trip to Riggs Flat Lake, at 9,000 feet. The views are spectacular and the lovely reservoir is stocked with trout. It is an 80-mile, 4-hour round-trip over a narrow, winding roadway, some of it unpaved; for directions, seasonal availability, and road conditions, check in at the Safford Ranger District Office.

Gila River Valley, near Safford, Arizona

Sky IslandsSome of the mountain ranges of southern Arizona are distinguished by one or more dominant peaks that rise well above their neighbors—to heights of 8,000, 9,000, even 10,000 feet. These taller peaks are big enough to disrupt the flow of warm, moist air through the atmosphere, stirring things up, generating clouds and localized rainfall.The climate near the tops of those mountains is completely different from the climate at their base, and so are the flora and fauna. High on the mountain you’ll find forests, streams, snow in the winter. Down below? You have the Sonoran desert, one of the hottest, driest climate zones in North America. The desert serves to isolate these high-altitude forests, one from another, in the same way that islands are isolated by the sea. These isolated peaks are called “sky islands,” and there are no fewer than 40 of them in Arizona’s Sky Island region, which extends into New Mexico and the northern Mexican states of Sonora and Chihuahua. Each sky island is unique.Like many sea islands, most famously the Galápagos, Arizona’s Sky Islands have evolved unusual species of plants and animals, some of which exist nowhere else on the planet. The Mount Graham Red Squirrel, for example, lives only on Mount Graham; the Rosemont Talus Snail, another unusual creature, lives only in the Santa Rita Mountains. Many other species, including frogs, flowers, birds, lichens, and many other small creatures are found exclusively on these sky islands.The Sky Islands are considered the most biodiverse regions in North America, host to more species of birds and mammals, insects and trees than any comparable region outside the tropics. Some peaks encompass as many as eight climate zones. To put that in perspective, a drive to the top of Mount Lemmon, near Tucson, can be compared to a drive from the Mexican border all the way to Canada.

Lordsburg to Safford Highlights

Safford Ranger District Office711 14th Ave., Safford, AZ 85546(928) 428-4150

Globe

Leaving Safford, the highway follows the Gila River to the northwest, across a portion of the San Carlos Apache Reservation. This is one of the poorest Native American communities in the U.S., a fact that will be apparent as you pass through the ramshackle town of Bylas, where 60 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and 68 percent of the labor force is unemployed. At the western edge of the reservation, the Apache Gold Casino presents a stunning contrast with its opulent hotel, restaurant, gaming halls, and golf course. Owned and operated by the tribe, the casino provides jobs and welcome revenue for the community.

A few miles past the reservation border you’ll be in the small city of Globe. According to legend, the town was founded by prospectors attracted by stories that local Indians were casting bullets from silver because it was easier to get than lead. Indeed, silver ore lay so near the surface it barely required digging. The silver deposits played out after just four years, but under the silver cap there was copper—so much copper that for a time Globe was one of the world’s biggest producers of the metal. In fact, this entire region for hundreds of miles in nearly every direction continues to be among the richest copper-producing areas on earth.

The heart of the once bustling city is the Downtown Globe Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places; it includes 18 buildings dating from the early 1900s, including the Post Office, the Gila County Courthouse, and several churches. The area’s history as a mining center is apparent in the landscape, especially in the neighboring town of Miami, where you can still see the pit and the smelters, the tailings and leaching ponds—the bleak destruction that mining can inflict on the landscape. These mines aren’t played out. The infrastructure is still intact, waiting for the price of copper to rise enough to make these diggings economically viable again.

While you’re in Globe, consider a visit to Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park, a mile outside town atop a ridge overlooking Pinal Creek. There you can see ruins of a Salado pueblo dating to AD 1225. The pueblo was built of stacked cobblestones bonded with clay mortar, and it rose several stories high. In its heyday, as many as 400 interconnected rooms surrounded the central plaza, like an ancient apartment building. The pueblo was built with great care, but the years have taken their toll. Part of what you see today is a restoration, and most of the walls have been stabilized, to prevent further deterioration. A small museum showcases artifacts found during the excavation, and there’s a model of what the pueblo might have looked like before it was abandoned, around AD 1400. There was an extended drought around that time, which quite probably forced the people in this region to migrate north.

Globe Highlights

Apache Gold Casino5 US 70, San Carlos, AZ 85550(928) 475-7800apache-gold-casino.comBesh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park1324 S. Jesse Hayes Road, Globe, AZ 85501(928) 425-0320globeaz.gov/visitors/besh-ba-gowah

Superior

US 70 terminates in Globe, at the point where it merges with US 60, which you’ll follow out of town as it swings toward the west. The portion of US 60 that runs from Globe to Superior is known as the Gila-Pinal Scenic Road, and the landscape along the way is stunning. After passing through the mining town of Miami, you’ll wind your way up curves and switchbacks all the way to Top-of-the-World, so called because at 4,528 feet it’s at the high point of this stretch of road. There’s not a lot to see these days at Top-of-the-World—if you blink, you’ll miss it—but back in the 1950s, it was a happening spot, with a guest ranch and … let’s call it a dance hall.

After Top-of-the-World you’ll pass through Devil’s Canyon, a jumbled maze of granite pillars lining the hairpin turns of the road. Beyond Devil’s Canyon, you’ll come to the quarter-mile-long Queen Creek Tunnel, which is immediately followed by the Queen Creek Bridge, a steel arch that crosses the deep gorge of Queen Creek Canyon. The completion of the bridge and tunnel in 1952 cut the time required for the journey between Globe and Superior in half, and made it considerably safer. The old “winding ladder” road can still be seen in the canyon below, slowly crumbling into ruin.

Like Globe, the town of Superior began as a silver camp and quickly turned to copper. The fabulously productive Magma Mine kept going longer than most, but it closed for good in 1996, forcing much of Superior’s population to search elsewhere for work. Much of the old town is boarded up now, and very worn around the edges, giving it a gritty ambience.

World’s Smallest Museum, Superior, Arizona

There are a couple of things worth checking out. The World’s Smallest Museum, which is contained entirely within a 134-square-foot shed adjacent to the Buckboard City Café, includes among its exhibits a 1984 Compaq computer, a Beatles poster, and other “artifacts of ordinary life.” A few miles outside town is something quite a bit more spectacular: the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. This world-class botanical garden, set on 320 acres, was created as a private garden and plant research center by William Boyce Thompson, the owner of the Magma Copper Company, who collected more than 3,000 species of both rare and common desert plants, including 800 different varieties of cacti. The arboretum, which attracts more than 200 species of birds, has walking trails and large greenhouses open to the public.

Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior, Arizona

Superior Highlights

World’s Smallest Museum1111 W. US 60, Superior, AZ(520) 689-5800Boyce Thompson Arboretum37615 US 60, Superior, AZ 85173(520) 689-2723cals.arizona.edu/bta/

US 60 to Phoenix

Beyond the arboretum, US 60 becomes a divided road headed west. After about 10 miles it merges with AZ 79; 15 miles more and you’re in Apache Junction, the official eastern edge of Metropolitan Phoenix. As you continue west into Mesa, US 60 turns into an urban freeway, soon opening up to six lanes in each direction. That should give you an idea of the volume of traffic carried by this major road during the morning and afternoon commutes. Since 1950, Phoenix has grown from the 99th-largest city in the U.S. to the 6th-largest, and it is on pace to become number 4 by 2020. That’s big, and it happened in a hurry—over the course of a single lifetime.

Stay on US 60 until it merges with Interstate 10, bringing you back to the road you left in Lordsburg. If it’s anywhere near the commuting hours (6-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m.), you’ll want to get off the freeway as quickly as possible, because all major routes leading into and out of the city center slow to a crawl during those times. If you have some time and you’d like a good look at what this vibrant city has to offer, consider the following optional loop.

Phoenix: A Self-guided Loop Tour

This optional scenic loop takes you on a grand tour of Arizona’s sprawling capital city. The total distance is about 60 miles, all on surface streets, so you should allow at least 2 hours just for driving it. If you stop at any of the many attractions, the reconnaissance mission can easily become a pleasant, full-day outing. Use the map for turn-by-turn guidance on this route; if you have a GPS, you can use the listed attractions as your waypoints. Just be sure to select the routing option that avoids major highways, or you’ll end up touring the Phoenix freeway system.

From I-10, take Exit 155 to West Baseline Road. Follow that west to Central Avenue, then head south to:

1. South Mountain Park. At 16,000 acres, this is one of the largest urban parks in the world, and it features prominently on Phoenix’s official “Points of Pride” list. Roads inside the park will take you to the summit of the highest peak, where you’ll get a broad view of the city below.

View of downtown Phoenix from South Mountain

From the park exit, follow Central Avenue north for 6 miles, through the heart of downtown Phoenix, before turning west to:

2. Arizona State Capitol Museum. Located on the grounds of the copper-domed Arizona State Capitol, this small museum has several worthwhile exhibits on the history of Arizona government dating back to the days of the Arizona Territory.

Arizona State Capitol, Phoenix

From the Capitol, head back to Central Avenue and an even better museum:

3. Heard Museum. Founded in 1929 by Dwight Heard, a rancher turned newspaper publisher, the museum has grown exponentially over the years, and is widely considered to house one of the world’s finest collections of Native American art and artifacts.

From the Heard, follow Central Avenue north about 4.5 miles to Glendale Avenue. At Glendale, turn right, and head for:

4. Piestewa Peak Park (formerly Squaw Peak Park). A beautiful winding road takes you through an exceptionally lovely slice of natural desert, right in the middle of town. There’s a trailhead here for an extremely popular hike to the top of the 2,600-foot peak. Parking is limited, so be prepared to wait for a space, or to park far away and walk. If it’s too crowded, no worries, it’s still worth driving in, because the drive back out offers stunning views, all the way across the city to South Mountain.

Leaving the park, turn left on Lincoln Drive and travel 3.5 miles east, past the beautiful grounds of the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and golf course, to Tatum Boulevard. At Tatum, turn right and decide whether to end your day with a serious hike, or with a series of more touristy experiences. If you’re a hiker, head to:

5. Echo Canyon Recreation Area. From the parking lot just off Tatum and McDonald Drive, you can pick up a trail to the top of Camelback Mountain, the hump-shaped granite-and-sandstone behemoth looming above you, one of Phoenix’s most prominent landmarks. Fair warning: Parking can be even more challenging than at Piestewa Peak. The hike is rated strenuous, so don’t underestimate it. The payoff at the summit: some really great views, and marvelous photo opportunities.

For a less heart-racing but equally authentic Phoenix experience, take 44th Street south to:

6. Papago Park. This 1,500-acre park is home to the Phoenix Zoo, the Desert Botanical Garden, a great public golf course, and some wonderful rock formations, including the famous Hole in the Rock, a large eroded chamber that passes all the way through a sandstone hill—another great photo opportunity.

Leaving Papago Park, take Galvin Parkway southwest to Van Buren. A mile or so west and a block south, on Washington Street, you’ll find the:

7. Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park. This interesting ruin and display of artifacts tells the story of the Native American people who first settled the Salt River valley, some 2,000 years ago. These people, known as the Hohokam, built a sophisticated system of canals to shunt river water to their fields. In the late 1800s, long after the Hohokam were gone, European and American settlers co-opted the ancient irrigation system and enlarged it. That canal system still functions to this day.

There are many options for lodging in the Phoenix area. For a historic hotel, consider the Hotel San Carlos, an elegant downtown hotel that once hosted the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart. For a first-class resort, consider the Arizona Biltmore. Built in 1929, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and host to every U.S. president from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush, the Biltmore is the epitome of class.

Phoenix Loop Highlights
Phoenix Points of Pridephoenix.gov/pio/points-of-prideSouth Mountain Park10919 S. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85042(602) 262-7393State Capitol Museum1700 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007(602) 926-3620azlibrary.gov/azcmHeard Museum2301 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004(602) 252-8840heard.org	Piestewa Peak Park2701 E. Squaw Peak Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85016(602) 261-8318Echo Canyon Recreation Area (Camelback Mountain)4925 E. McDonald Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85018(602) 261-8318Papago Park625 N. Galvin Pkwy., Phoenix, AZ 85008(602) 495-5458Phoenix Zoo455 N. Galvin Pkwy., Phoenix, AZ 85008(602) 286-3800phoenixzoo.org	Desert Botanical Garden1201 N. Galvin Pkwy., Phoenix, AZ 85008(480) 941-1225dbg.orgPueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park4619 E. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85034(602) 495-0901Hotel San Carlos202 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004(602) 253-4121hotelsancarlos.comArizona Biltmore2400 E. Missouri Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85016(602) 955-6600arizonabiltmore.com