Destinations Menu
RSS
UNITED STATES | Phoenix, Arizona Travel Guide
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
5 Of 6
Mesa and Apache Junction
Mesa
Mesa is Arizona’s third largest city, situated to the east of Tempe, approximately 15 minutes from the Phoenix airport, southeastward on the freeway. This is a relatively affordable city, with all the trappings of a family getaway: a good selection of accommodations and restaurants, and attractions, museums and recreational facilities for all ages. There are also several rugged outdoor areas around Mesa for hiking, biking, horseback riding, boating and tubing, particularly in the nearby Superstition Mountains and Usery Mountain Recreation Area, and the Saguaro and Canyon lakes and Salt River.
In town, points of interest include the Mesa Southwest Museum, which, alongside displays depicting the area’s history, boasts one of the West’s largest dinosaur exhibits; the Mesa Historical Museum, where Mesa’s pioneer past is on display; the Arizona Museum for Youth, devoted to exhibits for a younger audience; and Commemorative Air Force Museum, which showcases a superbly restored “Flying Fortress,” the B-17, as well as other warbirds and war memorabilia from World War I through the Vietnam War. Also of interest is the newly-built Mesa Arts Center, a $95-million, 206,500-square-foot arts complex, designed for both the visual and performing arts.
Apache Junction
Apache Junction lies just to the east of Mesa, situated along the Superstition Mountains. It is a place rich in frontier and Old West history, and is also, famously, the locale of the legend of the “Lost Dutchman Mine.” An annual festival, Lost Dutchman Days, revives the legend. The Lost Dutchman Museum in the area’s Goldfield Ghost Town further reinforces the legend, with artifacts and maps. There is an authentic gold mine in the ghost town, as well as a narrow-guage railroad offering rides, and staged gunfights and gold panning to entertain visitors.
Close at hand, too, is Tortilla Flat, originally a stagecoach stop on the Apache Trail, and now the site of the annual Renaissance Festival, a medieval celebration of sorts.
Last updated November 15, 2010
Posted in United States | Phoenix
Explore the Destination
Amenities and Resources
Overview
Hotels(86)
Restaurants(55)
Attractions(24)
Activities(9)
Map 
Weather Forecast
- Reported on:
Wed, 11/27/2024 - 19:53
- Reported on:
Trending Themes:
Guides to Popular Ski Resorts
-
Ischgl is a small mountain village turned hip ski resort, with massive appeal among the party-hearty young crowds. It is... Read More
-
Andorra la Vella is its own little world, and not just because it’s a 290-square-mile independent principality (a fifth the... Read More
-
Bariloche (officially San Carlos de Bariloche) is the place to be seen. It is to Argentina what Aspen is to the... Read More
-
Aspen is America's most famous ski resort. And that's an understatement. For, as a ski complex, Aspen is unsurpassed. Its... Read More
-
Zermatt is a small but glamorous mountain resort town, with a population of approximately 5,700. It is one of Switzerland's... Read More
-
St. Moritz is a glitzy, alpine resort town in the celebrated Engadin Valley of Switzerland, with huge notoriety as the... Read More
-
Lake Tahoe is the premier lake resort of America, and the largest alpine lake in all of North America. It is an absolutely... Read More
-
St. Anton, Sankt Anton am Arlberg in German, is Austria's premier ski-bum resort! It's actually a small village cum... Read More
-
Kitzbühel, a small, Tyrolian resort town in the Kitzbüheler Alps, comes with international renown and huge snob appeal, and... Read More