Summerhaven: Small Town Hidden in Mt. Lemmon

-


Tucked far inside Mount Lemmon is the tiny unincorporated town of Summerhaven, AZ.  The settlement sits at an 8,000 feet elevation with around 40 residents.  To get to Summerhaven, you have to travel up a curvy narrow road which you gain access from the Catalina Highway which is northeast of Tucson.  The drive is about 24.5 miles straight up.  We saw several bike riders pumping their way up the mountain. (Not for me!) 


In the 1870s and 1880s, Summerheaven was originally operated by the U.S. Army at Fort Lowell in Tucson.  This military camp was utilized as security against the Apache citizens.  It was the perfect defense location because of being encircled by pine trees.
Today in Summerhaven, you will find a general store, small shops, Sawmill Run Restaurant and The Cookie Cabin.  The Sawmill restaurant is where we had the best bacon cheeseburger and fries.  The Cookie Cabin has fresh homemade cookies and pizzas every day.  Many travel to this small town in the mountains for the fantastic weather, hiking, biking and skiing.  The Mount Lemmon Ski Valley is located just minutes outside of Summerhaven.  Since October of 2010, they have an annual running of the Mount Lemmon Marathon.  Almost 800 partakers completed the race which starts at the Catalina Highway and ends in Summerhaven.






In the summer of 2003, Summerhaven is almost wiped away by the Aspen wildfire.  It destroyed more than 250 of the 700 homes in the area.  The locale is still recovering from the fire even today which was evident during our visit.  Also, if you plan to visit Summerhaven, make sure you have a full tank of gas because there is no gasoline or automotive services in town or nearby.
Website: http://mtlemmon.com/summerhaven/







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

26 Bar Ranch (John Wayne Ranch)

-
Image
Immersed in the Hereford’s history in Eagar, AZ, sits the 26 Bar Ranch.   It was first known as the Milky Way Ranch in the 1940’s with its big white show barn which housed many Hereford cattle.   The barn is now a local landmark.   In 1964 the ranch became the 26 Bar Ranch or John Wayne’s Ranch, who was one of the owners.   Wayne, along with Ken Reafsnyder and Louis Johnson, his business partners, kept the ranch until John Wayne’s death in 1979 from lung and stomach cancer.   Lately, I have heard rumors that Bigfoot has been seen near the ranch.   I don’t know if that is true or not, but it would be worth checking out.  John Wayne and Louis Johnson
Read more

Historic Downtown Payson

-
Image
Located in the northern part of Gila County is the town of Payson, Arizona.  Because of where it is located in the state, it has been christened “The Heart of Arizona”.   Payson was established in 1882 and was first identified as Green Valley.  Two years later in March, a post office was erected with the assistance of Lewis Edwin Payson.  The people showed their gratitude by changing the town’s name to Payson.  Also that same year, the first rodeo was held and deemed the “world’s oldest continuous”.   It is still held in Payson till this day.  In the 1950’s, after many complained about the trip from Phoenix to Payson taking eight to twelve hours, a new paved highway was constructed.  State Route 87 (or the Beeline Highway), made travel quicker and easier for those wanted to get away from the heat of the valley to the gorgeous, serine forests in Payson. Website:   http://paysonrimcountry.com/ GREEN VALLEY PARK THE OXBOW INN FIRST JUSTICE OF THE P
Read more

Cowboy Mummy Found in Desert

-
Image
  There are many strange stories in the Arizona files. One that is told is about the mummy found in the desert near Gila Bend nicknamed “Sylvester”. Many believe that he once was a 19th century cowboy, a con that loved to play cards. Stories are told that he finally got caught cheating and was shot in the stomach. He made a hasty exit while bleeding profusely from his wound. He got as far as Arizona’s Gila Bend desert when he fell off his horse and died face down in the sweltering heat. Shortly afterwards, he was covered by the blowing sands, which appeared to have dried his body overnight. This apparently preserved his body resulting in the mummified form he was found in. The more believable story was that he was found shortly after death and preserved in a high level of arsenic. Arsenic was used to stop the physical occurrences of a corpse rotting by killing bacteria and insects that invaded it. This custom of using arsenic was found to be poisonous by the 1900’s and never used
Read more