Maggie Mine Road

With more curves than a 1940s-era pinup model, Maggie Mine Road snakes upwards into the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains. Along the way, it passes its namesake, the Maggie Mine, a small gold operation first prospected in the 1870s. Today it sits on private land and is not open to visitors. The rutted and rocky trail skirts gardens of prickly pear with their red fruits and the very thorny silver cholla. Forests of stately saguaros stand like so many sentinels, always on watch over their desert. To the west, the handsome Bradshaw Mountains dominate the jagged horizon. Glance east now and then, and you will see traffic on the interstate. Smile. They aren't having as much fun as you.