Arizona Car Rides

The shelter in place order has closed most businesses and recreational activities, and with temperatures reaching the 100’s we spend most of our time in the house. We’re excited when we need to do grocery shopping or pick something up at the hardware store.

Starting to go stir-crazy, William and I decide to take a car ride along the Apache Trail Loop up to Roosevelt Lake. We quickly learn that the road on part of the loop is washed out, so we break the loop into two sections. On a Monday we take the southern and eastern part of the loop out through Globe and Highway 188 up to Roosevelt Lake then drive west on a Highway 88 as far as we can before turning around and repeating the roads in reverse. The route takes us 5+ hours and provides great views of the Superstition Mountains, the lake and the Salt River. All the State and Federal parks are closed to visitors, but the scenery is beautiful and we enjoy the day.

A couple of weeks later on a Saturday we take the western and northern section of the Loop up through Tortilla Flats. We drive east on University Boulevard to Apache Junction where we turn north-east onto Arizona Highway 88. We stop near Lost Dutchman State Park to take photos of the Superstition Mountains. The road twists and turns it’s way up to Canyon Lake where many Arizonans are frolicking in the waters and enjoying themselves despite the Shelter-at-Home order. William slowly drives 1-2 miles, carefully avoiding the people who have parked along the road and are carrying their portable watercraft, picnic baskets and chairs to the lakefront. Once past the lake we follow the windy road past Tortilla Flats enjoying the desert scenery. A few miles outside of Tortilla Flats we find a flat area at approximately 2,700 feet in elevation overlooking the canyons and hills. William pulls off and we stop to enjoy the sandwiches and sodas we have packed. Then it’s time to head back toward Mesa.

The 60 mile round-trip drive takes us 3 hours with the windy roads and our various stops for photos and lunch, nice outing!