Hands down my favorite part of Death Valley National Park, the Badwater Basin Salt Flat is a must-see for anyone visiting the park. Officially the lowest point in North America, at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level, it was once considered to be the lowest elevation in the entire Western Hemisphere. It is now …
Continue reading Badwater Basin Salt Flat: The Lowest Place in North America.
Ok, first things first: it's pronounced "Preskett" (press-skit). That’s how you say it in Arizona, and anyone who pronounces it the grammatically correct way (“Press-scott”) will be immediately outed as an obvious “you ain’t from around here”. You see, apparently, the town settlers wanted to sound as “western” as possible, so they purposely mispronounced the …
In the small(ish) town of Wickenburg, Arizona (population 7,695), sits an historic tree that was once used as the town’s jail - really. In fact, “jail trees” were not uncommon during the Wild West days, especially in Arizona, as they cared little for the detainees’ comfort or wants. Instead of taking the time and effort …
Obviously not my photo 🤪 (from Google). As you can see, her nose was pretty average sized. Born Mary Katherine Horony, Big Nose Kate didn’t actually have a big nose. According to a nice older gentleman we met at her gravesite, she got that moniker from being a well-known gossiper who had her nose in …
Continue reading The Grave of Big Nose Kate: A Wild West Icon.
Officially the oldest bar and business still operating within the state of Arizona, the Palace Restaurant and Saloon does everything in its power to firmly hold onto its Wild West roots. It sits on Whiskey Row, in the heart of downtown Prescott (Prescott, Arizona: “Everybody’s Hometown”.) and is considered to be the most historic bar …
Continue reading The Palace Restaurant and Saloon: Step into a Wild West Time Machine.
Around 5 miles outside the teeny “town” of Glenwood, New Mexico, is an outdoor recreation area that is both family-friendly and super-duper cool. Located within the Gila National Forest (pronounced “hee-la”), it’s a super easy, approximately 2-mile in-and-out trail. The metal catwalk begins around .5 miles into the trail, which starts at the parking lot. …
Continue reading Glenwood, New Mexico: Catwalk Recreation Area.
Frankly, it was quite a feat getting to this once flourishing mining town nestled deep within the Mogollon Mountains in western New Mexico. The tiny, former town of Mogollon sits approximately 12 miles from the nearest actual "town", Glenwood (population: 139), and only 3 miles of that 12 is highway. The rest is a 9-mile …
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The expansive Utahan desert, right outside of Grafton. Tucked down a bumpy, 3-mile partial dirt road, sits a little known and extremely cool ghost town. Located in the southwestern corner of Utah, not a soul lives in this completely deserted place, which is probably very creepy at night (there are ranch homes nearby, but nobody …
Continue reading Grafton, Utah: “The most photographed ghost town in the West”.