Arizona Road Trip: Off The Beaten Path

This weekend, my husband decided to take the family for a surprise road trip. Living in Arizona, it’s not hard to find somewhere to get away to with stunning views. Since I had no idea of our destination, I took a peek at the GPS and saw it was going to be about a 2 hour drive.

But soon, our peaceful journey turned dusty as we ended up on an unpaved, dirt road. I decided right away that off roading in a Dodge Journey was probably not the best idea. I was also really glad we had just put on new tires!

My husband finally told me we were on the Apache Trail. It got its name from the Apache Indians who used the trail to move through the Superstition Mountains. Pretty cool, huh? It made my fear and trepidation a little more bearable. Just a little. Don’t get me wrong. The Apache Trail is amazing and you really get a chance to appreciate God’s beautiful creation. But the trail turns into a narrow, bumpy one-lane winding road through rugged desert mountains. You will definitely go much slower than the speed limit. 10 miles an hour was about as fast as we felt we could safely go without destroying our car or falling off a cliff. Seriously, there are some really steep cliff drops and very few safety barriers.

And I love my husband, but as he pointed out the sites, all I could think was “Please keep your eyes on the road. Please keep your eyes on the road!” He especially got a little distracted as we drove past Canyon Lake and Apache Lake. But he is a really good and careful driver so I tried to remember that as I gripped the seat.

I was not a fan of the one-lane bridges. Taking turns with cars coming from the opposite direction and hoping there were no misunderstandings was stressful. They couldn’t have made enough room for two cars?

As the roads seemed to get more and more narrow, I saw a couple cars playing chicken ahead of us. Almost daring the other one to pull off to the side first. And the hairpin turns really kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. If I was driving, I think I would have had a full blown panic attack.

It took us well over two hours to travel about 25 miles. What I didn’t know at the time was that the whole point of the trip was to visit Theodore Roosevelt Dam, named after the then-President. It’s on the Salt River located northeast of Phoenix. Roosevelt Lake sits behind it. It was definitely an awesome site to see and worth the harrowing trip.

The Apache Trail is one of the most scenic drives you can take around the Phoenix area. That in itself makes it a worthwhile day trip. And the Roosevelt Dam was certainly a noteworthy stop along the way. I heard the guy next to me say it wasn’t as big as the Hoover Dam, but awesome nonetheless. I’m glad we took the road less traveled, but I will never do it again! Driving through bumpy, unpaved roads (with potholes galore) surrounded by towering cliffs is better left to the more adventurous. I wanted to kiss the pavement once we got back on a main road. But the views are spectacular and truly worth making it at least a once in a lifetime trip.