Cowboys, Indians, the US Calvary, Indian Wars, floods, The Gold Rush, railroads. Wickenburg is every old West movie you ever saw, played out in real life and one of the better preserved Old West towns in Arizona.
Tombstone is more famous but not much original Tombstone is left. Wickenburg is the real deal.
I hadn't planned on doing this today, it was one of those rides that's been in the back of my mind for a while now. Yesterday was overcast, dark and blustery with rain threatening. Today however was delightful, clear and sunny and I had the itch to go riding.
I left my house and headed North. Towards the mountains, I decided to head up to Lake Pleasant before turning east towards Wickenburg, not the fastest route but definitely more scenic. On the way I passed the Turf Soaring school.
When I was 16 years old my father announced to me, " We're going to go take soaring lessons! "
Right at this school, we took four lessons and then my dad said, " I'm done, go ahead if you want to."
Well crap! He was paying and I was a teen working part time for minimum wage. That was the end of my flying days, it was fun while it lasted.
I reached the turn off , Castle Hot Springs Rd ( more on that in part 2) and head towards the scorpion bay marina. They don't call it scorpion bay for nothing, camping there as a teen I was sleeping on the banks of the lake and when I woke up and threw back the cover of my sleeping bag, I had a scorpion on my bare leg!
Right away I see this sign, that's right watch out for burros. Arizona has lots of wild burros, prospectors brought them to the state in the 1800's as pack animals and when they were done prospecting they turned them loose. Turns out they thrive here.
I was hoping to slip into the back side of the lake and take some photos and stretch my legs, they charge admission to most Arizona lakes and this entrance used to be unregulated. But much to my surprise there was a shiny new guard shack and a pay entrance. Sorry, I'm not paying $5 just to look at water for 10 minutes.
So...back on the road to Wickenburg and into the great wide open.
About 35 miles later , I pull into Wickenburg, a little lunch at McDonalds and on to my first stop. Wickenburg has done a great job of keeping their historic buildings intact, unlike so many other cities in Arizona.
They may be repurposed, but they are pretty much as they were built. They are very proud of their frontier heritage. You can still get handmade custom cowboy boots here and saddles and cowboy hats. It's a great town to just park and walk the streets. There are museums and restaurants and history all around you.
Note: somewhere On this street lies what used to be my starter button. It's kick start only from here on.
The Santa Fe train depot, circa 1895
The Vernetta Hotel built in 1905, Wickenburgs first brick building, built to serve railroad Travelers.
The red brick building in the center of this photo was the towns original Post Office, now a laundromat.
Go Postal Service!
Coming up in Part 2, Indian massacres, gold mines, Castle Hot Springs and more.
Tombstone is more famous but not much original Tombstone is left. Wickenburg is the real deal.
I hadn't planned on doing this today, it was one of those rides that's been in the back of my mind for a while now. Yesterday was overcast, dark and blustery with rain threatening. Today however was delightful, clear and sunny and I had the itch to go riding.
I left my house and headed North. Towards the mountains, I decided to head up to Lake Pleasant before turning east towards Wickenburg, not the fastest route but definitely more scenic. On the way I passed the Turf Soaring school.
When I was 16 years old my father announced to me, " We're going to go take soaring lessons! "
Right at this school, we took four lessons and then my dad said, " I'm done, go ahead if you want to."
Well crap! He was paying and I was a teen working part time for minimum wage. That was the end of my flying days, it was fun while it lasted.
I reached the turn off , Castle Hot Springs Rd ( more on that in part 2) and head towards the scorpion bay marina. They don't call it scorpion bay for nothing, camping there as a teen I was sleeping on the banks of the lake and when I woke up and threw back the cover of my sleeping bag, I had a scorpion on my bare leg!
Right away I see this sign, that's right watch out for burros. Arizona has lots of wild burros, prospectors brought them to the state in the 1800's as pack animals and when they were done prospecting they turned them loose. Turns out they thrive here.
I was hoping to slip into the back side of the lake and take some photos and stretch my legs, they charge admission to most Arizona lakes and this entrance used to be unregulated. But much to my surprise there was a shiny new guard shack and a pay entrance. Sorry, I'm not paying $5 just to look at water for 10 minutes.
So...back on the road to Wickenburg and into the great wide open.
About 35 miles later , I pull into Wickenburg, a little lunch at McDonalds and on to my first stop. Wickenburg has done a great job of keeping their historic buildings intact, unlike so many other cities in Arizona.
They may be repurposed, but they are pretty much as they were built. They are very proud of their frontier heritage. You can still get handmade custom cowboy boots here and saddles and cowboy hats. It's a great town to just park and walk the streets. There are museums and restaurants and history all around you.
Note: somewhere On this street lies what used to be my starter button. It's kick start only from here on.
The Santa Fe train depot, circa 1895
The Vernetta Hotel built in 1905, Wickenburgs first brick building, built to serve railroad Travelers.
The red brick building in the center of this photo was the towns original Post Office, now a laundromat.
Go Postal Service!
Coming up in Part 2, Indian massacres, gold mines, Castle Hot Springs and more.
And we think snow is tough!
