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UNITED STATES | Phoenix, Arizona Travel Guide
Saturday, May 11, 2024
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Mesa and Apache Junction
Mesa
Mesa is Arizona’s third largest city, situated to the east of Tempe, approximately 15 minutes from the Phoenix airport, southeastward on the freeway. This is a relatively affordable city, with all the trappings of a family getaway: a good selection of accommodations and restaurants, and attractions, museums and recreational facilities for all ages. There are also several rugged outdoor areas around Mesa for hiking, biking, horseback riding, boating and tubing, particularly in the nearby Superstition Mountains and Usery Mountain Recreation Area, and the Saguaro and Canyon lakes and Salt River.
In town, points of interest include the Mesa Southwest Museum, which, alongside displays depicting the area’s history, boasts one of the West’s largest dinosaur exhibits; the Mesa Historical Museum, where Mesa’s pioneer past is on display; the Arizona Museum for Youth, devoted to exhibits for a younger audience; and Commemorative Air Force Museum, which showcases a superbly restored “Flying Fortress,” the B-17, as well as other warbirds and war memorabilia from World War I through the Vietnam War. Also of interest is the newly-built Mesa Arts Center, a $95-million, 206,500-square-foot arts complex, designed for both the visual and performing arts.
Apache Junction
Apache Junction lies just to the east of Mesa, situated along the Superstition Mountains. It is a place rich in frontier and Old West history, and is also, famously, the locale of the legend of the “Lost Dutchman Mine.” An annual festival, Lost Dutchman Days, revives the legend. The Lost Dutchman Museum in the area’s Goldfield Ghost Town further reinforces the legend, with artifacts and maps. There is an authentic gold mine in the ghost town, as well as a narrow-guage railroad offering rides, and staged gunfights and gold panning to entertain visitors.
Close at hand, too, is Tortilla Flat, originally a stagecoach stop on the Apache Trail, and now the site of the annual Renaissance Festival, a medieval celebration of sorts.
Last updated November 15, 2010
Posted in United States | Phoenix
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