Tortilla Flat, population six — the last surviving stagecoach stop on the Apache Trail, where the pavement ends and the tour turns around. The grand finale, and the gateway to the wild, closed country beyond.
And here you are, rolling into Tortilla Flat — the end of the pavement, and the top of our climb. Notice the sign that gives its population, because it reads, honestly, six. Six people. This is one of the tiniest towns in Arizona: a single dusty row of frontier buildings — a country store, a saloon and restaurant with thousands of signed dollar bills stuck to the walls, a little schoolhouse, an ice cream counter — tucked in a canyon deep in the wild Superstitions. So shut the engine off and get out. Stretch your legs, get yourself a sarsaparilla or a bowl of chili, and soak up the last real stagecoach stop left standing on the whole Apache Trail.
Just past the town the pavement quits, and the historic Apache Trail drops away down the fearsome grade of Fish Creek Hill toward the far reservoirs — a rough, unpaved, cliff-hanging track that's no place for an ordinary car. So this is our turnaround: when you're ready, point yourself back the way you came, because the tour isn't over — we've got the whole mountain to enjoy all over again on the drive back down. Boone's got the story of this little town for you first.
Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0
