This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Cacti, cliffs, wild horses and mountains: a cinema set in front of which we cannot help but awaken the John Wayne that lies dormant in each of us. It’s hard to imagine such a change of scenery less than a 30-minute drive from Phoenix, the fifth largest city in the United States. Welcome to Mesa, Arizona.
We park the rental Ford Mustang in front of one of the 20 rustic, comfortable and most welcoming chalets with their large covered porch. Time stands still in a serene, almost cinematographic atmosphere. Our choice of accommodation for our stay was the Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch. Built in 1928 to accommodate workers on the Stewart Mountain Dam construction site, the camp was sold and then transformed into accommodation the following year. It has belonged to the same family for almost a hundred years, and we have made sure to preserve the unique history of this picturesque place.
Barely installed in our little house without television, telephone, radio or clock, we are called to order by the sound of a bell. It’s time to join the other guests in the large common dining room, where a dinner is served prepared with the attention to detail of a birthday party at home. We will repeat the experience the next day for breakfast. The accommodation, which welcomed visitors from the United States, Europe and Asia during our visit, offers a world tour by allowing everyone to enjoy a local beer or freshly squeezed orange juice together. .
Privileged contact with nature
With a group led by Desert Dog Adventures, we head into the wilderness behind the wheel of an all-terrain vehicle. Motivated by the idea of moving full throttle among the saguaros, large cacti whose shape is similar to that of a tree, we open our eyes wide despite the sand clinging to our eyelashes. We tirelessly search for wild cats, Gila monsters, California hares or the famous bird road runner that we had been promised.
To encourage meetings, it would undoubtedly have been more judicious to opt for a quieter version and more in communion with nature to visit one of the many national parks in the region crossed by kilometers of marked trails. Nevertheless, whether you are on foot, on horseback or on four wheels, it is impossible not to marvel at the unique flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert.
This is followed by a visit to the ghost town of Goldfield, which is ghost in name only. It is difficult to separate fact from fiction in this successful setting, which recreates the most glorious years of this mining town, frozen somewhere in 1890. As the attraction is accessible free of charge, it is not surprising that it attracts so many tourists, and this, from the opening. On site, restaurants, bars, jewelry stores and numerous boutiques highlight its mining past. Pressed for time, we miss the dueling demonstration, where shots are fired in the hope of settling a most theatrical conflict between two cowboys.
There are plenty of good reasons to visit the area and spend the day at the ranch. The first certainly being the presence of wild horses and the numerous trails that surround the property. However, if they are not there, you can always book a horseback ride by visiting a stable. From Saguaro Lake Guest Ranch and along the Salty River, experienced guides lead groups into the Goldfield Mountains and Sonoran Desert. The most spectacular walk is the one at sunset, perfect to end a day of playing Lucky Luke.
Cowboys and legends
Continuing this chapter written in gunpowder and dust, we trace a path through the Tonto National Forest and the Superstition Mountains. The Mustang’s engine roars at each exit of a curve of the very winding Apache Trail, or route 88, the most interesting part of which is that between Phoenix and the Theodore Roosevelt Dam. A driving challenge for some, this technical and demanding section is also one of the most exhilarating and photogenic in all of Arizona.
Most tourists end their half-day trip at Tortilla Flat, then turn back. Since its founding in 1904, neither fire, nor numerous floods, nor landslides have got the better of the smallest city in Arizona, with only six permanent residents. In the heart of the mountains, there is a saloon, a restaurant, a post office and a few souvenir shops. If your stomach isn’t up for a triple hamburger or a bowl of chili spicy enough to wake up a volcano, you can’t turn your nose up at the gelato with prickly pear.
Before leaving Mesa and completing the journey, we made a stop at the Pizzicata restaurant, which was recommended to us. Arriving from Italy five years ago, Federico Venturini and Viola Tagliaferri are proof that the American dream still exists. The small family-owned pizzeria they started when they arrived in the country quickly became one of the hottest destinations in Mesa’s dining scene. And it’s there, while eating the last bites of a tiramisu cooked by the angels, that we promise to come back. Phoenix and its surroundings certainly never cease to surprise us. We get a taste for dust…
To produce this report, the journalist was invited by the Arizona Office of Tourism.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.