Lost Dutchman State Park

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We had heard of Lost Dutchman State Park and the Apache Junction area months ago and had even naively tried to get into it on short notice awhile back. Once we understood how full this place usually is and we knew what our travel plans were going to be for the various rallies we went to, we booked 9 nights here back in late January.  So now that we are done in Benson, it's time to move on north. Not that it is very far north but it will get us heading in the right direction. All of southern Arizona has been having above normal temperatures, so we expect this stop to be more of the same. 

The drive was only about 160 miles with much of it on I-10 until we get past Tucson. As we got within 10 miles of the place, our GPSr, which is supposedly RV friendly, decided to take us down a dirt road. We lucked out and found it to be quite wide so we could actually make a u-turn even without unhitching the Jeep. As you make the turn into the state park, you are greeted with an awesome view of the Superstition Mountains. It would be the view we had from our site as well. We have had some decent views, Davis Mountain State Park in Texas comes to mind, but we think this is our best so far. All the sites in our loop are pull thru spurs off the main campground road. It is possible to pull in either direction depending how you want to be oriented. We park with the power pedestal on the "wrong" side but our 50 cord reaches underneath the rig without problem and we prefer the views this way.

Our Rig with Superstition Mountains

Superstition Mountains Near Sunset

One of the things we wanted to accomplish while we were here was to find the oldest geocache in Arizona. So far we have found the oldest in about 17 of the states. As the crow flies, it's only about 8 miles away, but we aren't crows. Fortunately Chris read about the area where the cache is located - Bulldog Canyon. The dirt road is gated and would be about two mile hike each way if we were to park and walk to it. But the area has a permit system in place that allows you to drive on the roads and gives you the gate lock combination which is changed each month. We fill out the online form and expect to wait for the 2 days it mentions before getting the pass. Low and behold, it shows up in our inbox in just a couple hours. We print it out and plan to head there the following day. 

When we arrive the next morning, I enter the code and sure enough the lock opens. After we get in, I lock up so no unauthorized people can get in and we head down the road. The area is probably better suited to off road vehicles but not any problem for our Jeep. In fact there is a truck and small trailer parked in one of the early pullouts since free camping is permitted there. We are positive our rig won't make it over this road, so we don't even think about it!

Inside Bulldog Canyon Area

There are several other geocaches along the route prior to getting to our main destination. There were many desert plants in bloom and it turned out to be a very pretty area. We were able to park within about a quarter mile of the oldest geocache. There isn't any trail to the cache but the desert vegetation isn't too dense so it is fairly easy to get there. There were two helicopters circling above as we made our way there. It wasn't clear why they were there, but they didn't seem to be following us. After finding the cache, we came back to the Jeep and continued down the road for another half mile or so before we decided we better head back before we find ourselves stuck with nobody around. 

Prickly Pear in Bloom

Hedgehog Cactus Blooming

The state park had a couple walks scheduled while we were here. A geology walk one morning and a nature walk the next. They took place at 8 AM so it was still somewhat cool. What ended up being nice is that each walk was on a different trail so we were able to experience different sights along each one. The geology hike was led by a retired physics teacher that volunteers at the park. He took over for the previous geologist. His descriptions of volcanos were memorable if not technically accurate.

Our Geology Walk Group Learns Something

Nature Walk Takes a Break and Talks

View of Apache Junction from Partway Up Superstition Mountains

One of the day trips we made was to the Scottsdale area to visit Taliesin West. This was Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home in his later years. It is now run by a foundation that offers various tours of the buildings on the 600 acre property. We picked the 90 minute tour. Our guide led the group of 20 around the many buildings in the complex. Part of the buildings still house an architectural school. They offer this tour every 15 minutes, so we seemed to either be waiting for the tour ahead of ours or being pushed by the tour behind. 

Interesting Art at Taliesin West but Not a Wright Design

Part of Artwork Installed on Property

Nice Landscaping

The grounds between the various buildings were pretty and well maintained. Most of the buildings were rather unique if not quirky. Many of the entrances were quite short and I felt the need to duck. The guide told us this was because Frank wanted to force people to move into or out of the rooms without lingering in the entrance. Mission accomplished! Supposedly Frank was on the shorter side of the scale so the entrances were just right for him. When we got to the building where the students have their desks, we weren't allowed to speak or take photos for fear of interfering with their creative juices. We did have a bit of a distraction along the way. A fairly long snake was wandering the grounds. According to one man in our group it was a rosy boa. 

Wonderful Setting for a Home

Our Tour Group Listens to Stories About the Man

Snake Sneaking into Our Tour

Theater Room

Prospector Park and the surrounding desert land was not very far from the state park. We discovered that there were some of the best caches we have done in quite some time. Although none of them were listed as true puzzle (or mystery) caches, many of them had some sort of trick to get into the cache and sign the logbook. There were several interesting designs that I would try to duplicate if I was still had a home and my full allotment of woodworking tools. Admittedly some of the designs that work acceptably well in this type of dry desert air, may be a bit more problematic in the wetter environments. 

Cache Found Hanging

Had to Figure Out Which Nails Could Be Removed Using a Magnet

With Container Open, Log Inside

One of the more challenging ones (at least for us) led us to a pair of trees about 20 feet apart. In each tree was a small birdhouse. They both looked identical. Opening either of them up, you were greeted with a small container with the word "DECOY" written on them. Supposedly the actual cache was within 20 feet so we looked all over. However we kept going back to the birdhouse suspecting something was up with them. Chris noticed that the back of each birdhouse had a much thicker wall than was required and I eventually discovered the trick to opening the hidden compartment, letting the cache container out. If you happen to enjoy fun (and challenging) caches like this, we suggest you try them out.