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Small Group Apache Trail Day Tour with Dolly Steamboat from Phoenix

Small Group Apache Trail Day Tour with Dolly Steamboat from Phoenix

Overview

Spend the day following the historic Apache Trail on a guided true wilderness adventure. Enjoy a visit to Goldfield Ghost Town, Tortilla Flat, and a boat ride on Canyon Lake. It's a perfect day out in the Sonoran Desert. Choose between a small-group or private option. If you select the private option, you can also select your departure time.

City: Scottsdale

Sat 28 Dec

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $159.00

Make a reservation

Sat 28 Dec

Starting at $159.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Bottled water

All taxes, fees and handling charges

Professional guide

Hotel pickup and drop-off from select Phoenix area hotels

Additional Info

Service animals allowed
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there is not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund
Arizona state law requires children under 8 years to have either a child seat or booster. Child seats are not provided, please bring your own
Minimum age is 3 years
Wheelchairs that can fold up are acceptable on tour
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised
Guides required to regularly wash hands

What To Expect

Apache Trail Scenic Drive

Only minutes from the city, the Apache Trail is the perfect way to experience the beauty of the Sonoran desert. Arizona’s first designated “Historic Highway” and a scenic byway, the original Apache Trail was a footpath by which the local Apache Tribe traveled through the Superstition Mountains.

Superstition Mountains

View these stunning desert mountains as you drive along the Apache Trail

Canyon Lake

During your tour along the Apache Trail, you will also be treated to a steamboat cruise on Canyon Lake by the famous Dolly Steamboat.

Lost Dutchman State Park

Tortilla Flat has become a fixture of the Apache Trail since its inception in 1904. Not fire, drought, or bandits could destroy this hearty stage stop which holds onto its rich tradition through its architecture and unique decorating sense. If you get too warm, you can quite literally “saddle up” to the bar and enjoy a cold beverage to cool you down. This rugged landscape in the Sonoran Desert has been the jewel that some men were looking for with the most famous involving the Lost Dutchman Mine. Rumored to have found the largest gold vein in the west, German immigrant Jacob Waltz trusted his newly found gold deposit to no one and the secret of its location was buried with him. If you have the “golden eye” maybe you can spot it while on tour!

Tortilla Flat

Two of the more colorful stops along the Apache Trail are Goldfield Ghost Town and Tortilla Flat.

Goldfield Ghost Town

Goldfield, aptly named after the precious metal found in the area, was incorporated in 1892. For five long years this town was a gold miner’s paradise, however, soon after the vein stopped producing Goldfield quickly turned into a gold mining ghost town. During the tour you will have a chance to spend time in this restored ghost town practicing your gold panning techniques, marveling at the original mining gear, or even spending some time at Lu Lu’s Bordello if you dare.

Show 3 more stops

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (97)

cutiepug

Feb 2020

I had the pleasure of experiencing two consecutive days of very different tours with this fabulous company! Day 2 with Mark (I believe that was his name) and a small group of travelers rounded out a fabulous weekend of seeing the area sights before the start of a week long business trip! I will say that enjoying the scenic mountain drive and the Dolly Steamboat tour were the highlights of this Arizona trip! I absolutely fell in love with Canyon Lake. The area is just breathtaking. Goldfield Mine in a little touristy, but it’s cheesy fun! Many of the activities had not quite opened yet when we got there, but this made it nice to be able to walk around and soak up the old West desert experience without hoards of people! If you want more time here, now that you’ve been oriented to area, you can easily come back another time to spend a few more hours. The yummy food in Tortilla Flats, an authentic Old West stagecoach stop, was worth the wait, and there’s ice cream and fun live music in kind of a family/biker/cowboy environment...for lack of a better description. Believe me, on Sunday afternoon this was an extremely popular place with locals and tourists alike! Everyone was having a great time. What more can you ask? I will mention, to perhaps address a couple of the prior less positive reviews, that kids might be a bit bored on this tour and if you don’t like crowds or hanging out enjoying the day and looking at amazing scenery from a slow boat (it didn’t feel crowed on the boat to me at all)...book the Sedona Red Rocks with a thrilling jeep tour. If you have grumpy family members who complain a lot... might be better to leave them back as well! I just happened to be with a lovely laid back group though! Some of us enjoyed having lunch together and I made some new friends! Be sure to research these activities before booking this tour. I did and had a good idea of the day before we started and was still absolutely blown away by the beautiful area. Think of all the potential photo ops! Oh... and get your old west photo made in the ghost town! All that said, having a friendly, knowledgeable guide was definitely worth the price of the trip! He made us feel safe and cared about! This guide definitely enjoys his job. Also, I’m glad I wasn’t the one having to drive that curvy road and figure out the one lane bridge protocol! Mark my words, you’ll be humming “I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name...” for days as you retell stories about your day in on Superstition Mountain looking for the Lost Dutchman’s gold! I will not hesitate to recommend this tour company, the guides or any of the tours. I’ll book a different next time I’m back in the area! Thanks again, Detours, for another amazing day!

Response from Host

Feb 2020

Wow! Thank you for taking the time to detail your Apache Trail DETOUR. We absolutely love Goldfield Ghost Town. Rich with history and culture you may not have ever known existed, the area truly does show off the Old West (which we feel deserves all the love it can get!) We certainly have a blast everyday we get to visit the Superstition Mountains during our Apache Trail tour. We're glad that you did too! We aim to meet the expectations of everyone while we take them out on tour. Some groups, as you say, are more laid back and relaxed. The 'Go With the Flow' type, coincidentally our favorite type of tour group. Dolly Steamboat is yet another hidden gem of the valley! Who can't help but stop and smell the roses (or better yet, prickly pears) when you surround yourself with such surreal beauty? Truly, the entire Apache Trail tour tour captivates a piece of Arizona history and beauty that not many get the chance to appreciate. That's what makes this tour stand out to us, our guides, and our guests! We feel like it's an honor to take each and every group that decides to join us on this tour. You can't teach that in a guide, it just comes naturally - we all share a love for our Sun-baked Southwest! Thank you once more for joining us and sharing your experience with DETOURS. We know we've seen you before, we thank you for joining us again, and we hope to see you once more in the future! We've got plenty more to share with you, if you'll have us!

ginnyguy

Feb 2020

This was a wonderful adventure that I would highly recommend . The ghost town was fun and sold lots of goodies , like delicious fudge . The scenery was beautiful .

tomaslukosiunastkk9

Feb 2020

We visited all places which were mentioned in tour description so I'm very satisfied. Also we had guide which knew so much about history of these places so we also get many interesting stories.