Lost Dutchman State Park, spread beneath the sheer west face of the Superstition Mountains — named for the most famous lost-gold legend in America, and the trailhead into the range itself.
On your right now is Lost Dutchman State Park, and it sits in about the most dramatic spot on the whole lower trail — right up against the sheer western wall of the Superstition Mountains, which tower straight up above it, close enough to feel. If you have a morning to spare, this is the place to get out and walk into the range a little; the park's got trails of every length, from an easy loop to the steep, punishing climb up to that anvil-shaped summit you can see on the skyline, the one they call the Flatiron.
The name tells you where you are. This whole park — and half the businesses for miles around — is named for the Lost Dutchman, the legend of a fabulous gold mine hidden somewhere up in these very mountains, that men have hunted for a hundred and fifty years and never found. Boone will tell you that whole tale in a bit. For now, just take in the mountain itself: that dark, banded, cliff-topped wall is volcanic rock, and it rises so steep and sudden out of the flat desert that it's no wonder people looked at it and imagined it was hiding something.
A word if you do decide to hike here: the desert is beautiful and it is unforgiving. Carry far more water than you think you need, tell someone your plan, and turn back early — the Superstitions have a long, grim history of swallowing people who underestimated them. Enjoy the park; then roll on up the trail.
Photo: dconvertini · CC BY-SA 2.0
