Globe & the Salt River Canyon — Salado Pueblos, Apache Heritage & the Copper Corridor

Two hours north of Tucson, the old mining town of Globe sits at the meeting point of ancient pueblo builders, the Apache homeland, and the copper industry that reshaped central Arizona. This three-day journey climbs out of the Sonoran Desert into the higher, cooler mountain country of Gila County to explore all three. Day one walks through Besh-Ba-Gowah, the remarkably preserved and partly reconstructed stone pueblo of the Salado people who farmed the Gila valley seven centuries ago, then strolls the brick streets of historic Globe and neighboring Miami, twin copper towns of the early 1900s. Day two ventures onto and alongside the San Carlos Apache Reservation — a sovereign nation whose people were confined here in the 1870s and whose living culture endures — and up the breathtaking switchbacks of the Salt River Canyon, an immense gorge often called Arizona's 'mini Grand Canyon.' Day three turns homeward through the lush Boyce Thompson Arboretum, the state's oldest and largest botanical garden, and the tiny mining town of Superior beneath the cliffs of Apache Leap. All three nights are spent in Globe. Note that the San Carlos Apache Reservation is a sovereign nation; visitors should be respectful and check whether a tribal permit is required for any off-highway stops.