We headed to Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction for a few days of visiting family and doing some hiking in the fabulous Superstition Mountains. On our way there we drove through Apache Junction past the Elvis Chapel and the Goldfield Ghost Town.
Not much further is the entrance to Lost Dutchman State Park.
The campground at Lost Dutchman has 135 sites with picnic tables, BBQ grills, and campfire pits. 68 sites have electric and water and the remainder of the sites are dry camping. There is a dump station on site and most sites have excellent views of the Superstition Mountains and/or the surrounding area.
Campground: Lost Dutchman State Park
Location: Apache Junction, Arizona
Site: 4 (back-in)
Cost: $26.60
Services: Dry camping
Comments: One of favorite campgrounds with great sites and terrific just-out-the-door hiking. Our site had great views and lots of site privacy.
The state park is at the base of the Superstition Mountains with views also of the Mazatzal Mountains with the prominent landmark of Four Peaks. The Superstition Mountains include the famous Flatiron mountain which is a challenging hike with a rugged trail and can be difficult to follow. Using binoculars we could sit at our site and watch hikers going up and down some parts of the trail. Other years we have witnessed search and rescue bring wounded hikers off the mountain via helicopter.
Besides hiking to Flatiron there are numerous other fabulous hiking trails both in the state park and in the adjacent Tonto National Forest.
Along the trail are great views of the surrounding mountains, and a variety of wildflowers along with green grass which is very abnormal to see in the desert. Due to the amount of rain in the past few months the desert has exploded with color. It was great to see.
But being March in Arizona the day use was full of people taking nature hikes with the rangers and others just enjoying the great weather. We could still enjoy some trails with less people but yes, there were lots of hikers around!!
There is a variety of wildlife in the park including coyotes and javelina but most of the creatures are of the smaller size and wandered through our campsite daily.
We enjoyed campfires every evening with great views of the sun setting on the Superstition Mountains along with nice silhouettes of the surrounding cacti.
My future’s so bright I gotta to wear shades!!
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