Old Apache Trail and Tortilla Flats

After several weeks in Apache Junction it was time to go somewhere different. So off we headed to Tortilla Flats. Now Tortilla Flats is a small town (it has a post office, a restaurant and gift shop), turned into a tourist attraction. Every day of the week during the winter months finds the place packed with people from the valley (Phoenix). Tortilla Flats currently has a population of 6, has a voters district and the smallest post office in Arizona. But in 1904 it was a stop for the trucks hauling materials to build Roosevelt Dam. It only became a stage stop after Roosevelt Dam opened and became a tourist attraction.

All the buildings were first bought by one man back in 1906, then sold in 1925. The town as a whole has been sold several times for amounts which were as low as $12,000, to an ad which was supposedly placed on ebay in 2003 for $3.4 million. The museum in town has the complete history and more. You should go check it out.

But across the street from the town is a campground run by Tonto National Forest. No electricity or cell phone service, but water and dump at every site.

This unusual RV showed up while I was there. I stopped to visit with the people and found out they are from Germany. They have been traveling for 15 years and have traveled all over the world.

This is their website. Check it out, although much of the website is in German, there are lots of great pictures.

This was the creek below our campsite.

One day we decided to take the road on up to Roosevelt Dam. Along the way we stopped at Apache Lake. My toes were all I was willing to get wet.

Max was much braver. He got in up to his knees.

In 1996 they decided to raise the dam by 77 feet. This increased the size of Roosevelt Lake by 20%.

When we got back to our jeep, this red jeep was next to us had a flat tire. And they couldn't get their spare because it was locked on and they did not the key. So Max offered his spare. We then followed them to town where we got our spare back and they got their flat tire fixed. And they got the lock removed from their spare tire too.