South Mountain Park - Phoenix

Sunday morning we left Lost Dutchman State Park and after dumping were on the road by 10 am. We wanted to get through downtown Phoenix before it started to get busy ... hence leaving on a Sunday and not a weekday. Ray and I have been stuck on the I-10 before in the workday morning traffic and it is like Vancouver, BC .... something to miss if you possibly can! Traffic this morning was pretty good, more than I thought there would be, but everyone was moving steadily at the speed limit or better so it did not take very long to make our way through.

We stopped at Costco for a couple of things on the other side of Phoenix (Avondale). As we were hungry for lunch and the line-up for a hot dog was ridiculous, we noticed the sign for the China City Super Buffet as we were leaving the parking lot. On a whim, as Ray and I had not had any Chinese Food for awhile, we decided to try it out. Boy were we impressed. They had the most seafood at a Buffet I have seen with exception of a a seafood night at a casino. Ray had octopus, fresh sushi including sashimi, raw oyster, etc just to name a few. They had cooked snow crab, prawns, clams and mussels. Huge salad bar, and 3 or 4 huge steamer tables of different items that were not light on the meat. Wow, all for $8.49/person. This is a definite "do again" place.

The first plate of Ray's lunch.

1 of 6 or 7 tables of food to choose.

Monday, December 4th, we decided to tour the South Mountain Park/Preserve in Phoenix, just southwest of Tempe.

"Originally called Phoenix Mountain Park, it was formed in 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge sold its initial 13,000 acres (53 km²) to the city of Phoenix for $17,000. South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona, is the largest municipal park in the United States, one of the largest urban parks in North America and in the world. It has been designated as a Phoenix Point of Pride. At more than 16,000 acres South Mountain Park/Preserve actually consists of three mountain ranges, the Ma Ha Tauk, Gila and Guadalupe; and is one of the largest municipally operated parks in the country. It boasts 51 miles of primary trails for horseback riding, hiking and mountain biking for all ability levels. From the park's main entrance, you can drive up the Summit Road 5.5 miles to Dobbins Lookout and spectacular valleywide views or you can continue to the Gila Lookout for a view of the Gila River Valley. Dobbins Lookout, at 2,330 feet, is the highest point in the park accessible by trail or public roadway. 

Much of the original park infrastructure was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the early 1930s. The landmark Mystery Castle is located within its foothills.
Note: The scenic roads are shared by bikers and hikers and there are many steep sections and blind curves, so maximum speed is 25 mph and 15 mph on curves."

"South Mountain Park is also notable for its chuckwalla population. With an average of 65 chuckwallas per hectare, South Mountain has the highest density of chuckwallas that has ever been reported. Further, male chuckwallas at South Mountain exhibit a “carrot tail” phenotype, which is unique to this population."

We did not see any though, probably too cold.

A lot of the big overpasses have pictures of "lizards" in the concrete, I bet they are chuckwallas.

There are work crews working on the entrance kiosk into the park so today was free because of the construction  I am sure there is a fee to enter the rest of the year. Lots of bikers riding up the windy road too. This is the Visitor's Centre that was constructed in 1924 and contains the public restrooms. The parks office is adjacent to this building.

They were not kidding about the curves!  I hardly got to look at the view as I had to concentrate on keeping us on the road. :)

An adjacent subdivision with roads just as windy as the park.

Roads in the park below:

Yup the road just hangs on to the side of the cliff.

Driving up this road I spotted this fellow. He flew right over our car and landed on a saguaro beside us.

It was the only picture I caught as he heard the camera shutter click and he was off! ... so not the greatest picture by me out the driver's window! lol

The road in the picture above, leads you to a parking lot where you can view this TV tower array!  The viewpoint also includes expansive views south of the city, like the subdivision a couple pics ago.

Dobbin's Lookout gives you the best views of the City of Phoenix.

This gives you an explanation of what you are looking at.

Ya Dad!

There is quite a bit of smog/pollution in the air today so the distant views are rather hazy.

Looking towards the south west

Looking towards Tempe.

Looking towards the Superstition Mountains and the Lost Dutchman State Park.

Ray managed to catch a plane landing at Phoenix Airport. Hard to tell though with the smog.

A lovely outing and Freya got to come too. For lunch we stopped at BJ's Brewhouse (rather unimpressive) and ate on the patio with Freya on her mat, before heading back home to the coach.

Driving back to camp you could see the blue sky trying to come out.