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Castle Hot Springs
-- The 3 hour Tour - No shipwreck,
guaranteed --
This tour
is our Basic Tour
The Oasis
[All pictures are Thumbnails -
Click to enlarge]
Arizona Highways Magazine tells
of how warring local Indian tribes would grant mutual safe passage to Castle Hot
Springs for the enemy who they would kill in the heat of battle. When they
weren't fighting each other they respected one another's health. By the late 1800's and
the early 1900's
this virtual oasis in the desert with its lush green grass and tall stately palm
trees, became the destination point of the 'rich and famous' like the
Rockefeller's and the Vanderbilt's who hooked their Pullman cars on steam
locomotives in New York City and rode the rails to what was then called Hot
Springs Junction. Today it is known as Morristown, AZ.
Once there, they parked their Pullman cars on the side rails at the Train Depot/Stagecoach Inn and took the Stagecoach of the Arizona Stage Line
in to the Castle Hot Springs Resort. By the mid 19th century Castle Hot
Springs was becoming a renowned resort in its own right. Castle Hot Springs, located in the heart of the
Castle Creek Wilderness area, became the vacation spot for movie stars like
Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne and others. JFK and Jackie
vacationed there.
 This tour begins at Lake
Pleasant. Almost immediately the road turns to dirt and we shift into
4-wheel drive. The road remains fairly wide and relatively smooth until we
pass the Northwest boundaries of the recreational park. The first
intersection is the turn-off for what the local 4-wheel drive folk call
'The Back Road to Crown King'. Up that road are some Ghost Towns such as
Fort Misery, Oro Belle and others. The going gets pretty rough going as
the trail climbs over 4,000 feet until it
merges with the Old Senator Highway. The Senator, named after another old
town and mine near the Territorial Capital of Prescott, was once the stagecoach route of the
Arizona Stage Line from 'Preskit' to Phoenix. Although the 'Senator' is
called a highway it is far from it. It is a 4-wheel drive road and traverses the same rugged
mountainous terrain that it did in the days of the stagecoach. One 13 mile
stretch of the Back Road to Crown King has been known to take Ol' Willy, our
founder, four hours to navigate it.
The
road narrows and we pass Casa Rosa, a working ranch today with a long history.
As we enter the Castle Creek Wilderness area our road turns to creek bed and we
drive in and out of the Castle Creek. We pass a couple of private residences and soon round the
bend and see the beautiful lush oasis stranded in the surrounding mountainous
desert terrain. We will step out of our 4-wheel drive vehicle onto the
banks of Castle Creek (on into the often dry creek bottom) and take in the
beauty of the oasis before us. Your driver / guide will be most happy to
entertain your questions.
Castle Hot Springs - Panoramic View
  
[Click on each picture to
enlarge]
From there you can hop back in to
your tour vehicle or take the short walk around the left end of the old resort.
Either way your driver will move the vehicle around to the gate at the left end
of the resort. Theye, you can take in the full beauty and the
lushness of this desert oasis.
THE OASIS RESORT
[Click on each picture to
enlarge]
As we stand in the creek bed
looking at the oasis over your left shoulder stands Governor's Peak, a little
known Arizona Landmark. Atop this mountain flies a US Flag day and night
year around. The top of the mountain is approachable by a long and rough hiking trail.
GOVERNOR'S PEAK
[Click on each picture to
enlarge]
Castle Hot Springs was the end of the Stagecoach route from
Hot Springs Junction. The road ahead traverses the same route used by the
Arizona Stage Line. We will travel it the same direction now
as the resort guests did when they left to return to the Train Depot /
Stagecoach Inn. A mile or so up the trail is a smaller oasis which was
one the oldest Ranches, The "Rocking R Ranch", in early Arizona.
 Our road winds in and out of Castle
Creek and we cross it several times until we reach a fork or 'Y' in the road.
The right fork at the 'Y' would take us back into Castle Creek and along the
rugged trail going up to the Ghost Towns of Briggs/Kirby and Copperopolis.
Another one of our Ghost Town Tours takes that trail. The stagecoach
returning from Castle Hot Springs would have taken the right turn to make its
weekly trek up to those old towns.
[If you came here from the
Copperopolis Tour
you can click this link to return to it or read on to
the bottom and click it there.]
On this tour we take the left fork
and continue toward modern day Morristown and the old original Train Depot/Stagecoach
Inn. When the stage came back down from Copperopolis and
Briggs/Kirby it continued over the route we now take to return to its
origination point of Wickenburg after stopping at the Train Depot in Morristown
Crossing.
The road twists and turns its way
toward the Hieroglyphic Mountains until we come upon 'Stage Coach Pass'.
This is not an official name for this place but one that was given to this
series of 'S' turns by Ol' Willy, the founder of AZ Ghost Town Stage Line.
The imagination run's free as you can visualize marauding Indians or
Outlaws as they descend the banks from either side to ambush the coach and to
their dastardly deeds right where the stage driver would pause to give the
horses and passengers a cool drink from the nearby springs.
STAGECOACH PASS
[Click on each picture to
enlarge]
  Just
to the other side of 'Stage Coach Pass' we get out to look at another old
vehicle which crashed years ago on the old trail. See if you can identify
the make, model and year of the vehicle because we don't have a clue.
We continue climbing the grade
passing through switchbacks and twists and turns toward the old Train Depot.
Our road becomes smoother and wider as we traverse over open desert terrain and
open range territory. In the Spring or early Summer tops of saguaro cactus
in full bloom this stretch has some of the most beautiful desert flowers.
If the rains have been just right vast areas of the desert floor turns into lush
fields of yellows and greens spotted with the fuchsia of prickly pear cactus in
bloom. On many turns in the trail we overlook the tops of Saguaro cactus
in full bloom.
ORIGINAL TRAIN DEPOT and
STAGECOACH INN
[Click on each picture to
enlarge]
This tour ends at the
original Train Depot / Stage Coach Inn in modern day Morristown, near
Wickenburg. We shift back out of 4-wheel drive and put our 'stagecoach' on cruise control and drive back into the city.
For Tour Pricing, Questions or More
Information
Mailing address:
AZ Ghost Town Stage Line
- 4722 N. 31st Avenue - Phoenix, AZ 85017
EMAIL
tours@YeeHawww.com
PHONE
602 - 373 - 0066
Please leave a
message if we don't answer
NOTE:
This tour is part of other tours. If
you came here from one of these tours click on the link below to return to that
tour
Copperopolis Tour
TO RETURN TO
OUR TOUR DIRECTORY
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