Why do you climb a mountain? Because it's there.... We selected the Hieroglyphic Trail, an easy 1.1 mile hike up to an area with Indian petroglyphs. I'm glad it was easy because we were hiking for 3 1/2 hours. That 1.1 miles must be calculated as the crow flies.
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| Superstition Mountains |
The rocky washes and saguaro studded hills at the base of the Superstition Mountains lured adventurers for 9,000 years. Salado, Hohokam and Apache Indians gathered here years before the white man. Spanish explorers sought gold in these hills.
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| Excited to Get Started |
Mexican miners like the Peralto Brothers were said to have taken tons of gold ore from mines in these mountains. Trappers and adventurers migrated to this area. Ranchers drove cattle up this dirty rocky soil. Eventually, the US Cavalry was sent to patrol the area.
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| Cardinal Petroglyph |
Jacob Waltz, a miner, ventured into these mountains and brought back gold. A legend was born in 1891 when he died because he never revealed where he found the gold. Prospectors have returned to the Superstition Mountains for more than a century looking for the "Dutchman's" lost mine. So far, no one has found it.
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| Rock Where Indians Ground Corn |
These petroglyphs have been dated by most archeologists as the work of the Hohokam Indians between 110 to 700 A.D. They are not sure if they depict hunt scenes or were used by shamans for searching the origins of life.
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| Petroglyph |
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| Taking It All In |
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