Apache Trail

Before the White man arrived, the Navajo and Apache accessed the Phoenix-Tucson valley through the ancient Apache Trail . This trail winds through the mountains east of Phoenix following a path used for over a thousand years. It cuts through dry mountain passes and hugs high rugged ridges. The early White trappers used it to take out their beaver skins destined for the East coast markets. As the pioneers settled this area, a wagon road was needed, and with great effort, the deepest gorges were bridged and narrowest paths were widened to accommodate a wagon. In the decade before the Civil War, after we grabbed this land from Mexico, the Pony Express started and soon after, Wells Fargo began regular stage coach service on this trail. Little has changed since then. The dusty trail through the desert wilderness is passable but rough, at times VERY steep, so narrow vehicles can only pass in occasional pull outs. The only thing keeping vehicles from tumbling down cliffs are the dirt guard rails. My truck is the absolute maximum size that fits this road, I barely squeezed by the rare oncoming vehicle. Almost 30 unpaved miles in length, this is the most spectacular scenery we’ve seen, also the scariest road I’ve ever driven, WHEW! We were relieved to reach civilization at the far end.