If Hiking is Your Calling, You'll Love These Tours!
Four Peaks Amethyst Mine Tour
A thrilling guided hiking adventure, with access to the mine property high atop Four Peaks!
This remote hike is not for the faint at heart as we follow the summit trail across Four Peaks to arrive at the Four Peaks Amethyst Mine. For the first time in history, mine owner Kurt Cavano is making available regular tours into this unique Arizona treasure. This rare amethyst vein has been mined by hand without the benefit of electricity for over 100 years. Guests looking for a challenging outdoor experience will certainly enjoy this historic mining adventure.
Trailhead Approach: 20 mile Forest Road about 90 minutes
Expert Level Hike: 5.4 miles primitive trail, round-trip Trailhead to Mine
Elevation: Trailhead 5700 feet, elevation gain 655 feet.
Tours include water, juices, Arizona teas, fresh fruit, nuts, and snack bars.
Amethyst Mine Helicopter Tour
- Advance Reservations Required. Please call for final pricing.
- Pricing is subject to change at any time.
Amethyst Mine Helicopter Tour
- Advance Reservations Required. Please call for final pricing.
- Pricing is subject to change at any time.
Sunset Desert Tour
My Arizona Guide has designed the perfect for all-ages family astronomy eco-tour for stargazing enthusiasts. We bring together basic astronomy and the ancient navigation traditions of the indigenous peoples of Arizona with an opportunity to explore the desert at sunset and see what kind of nighttime creatures we can find.
Our tour begins with a sunset desert tour to arrive at our stargazing stop for a look at the amazing Arizona night sky. Telescopes and binoculars allow us an intimate view of the moon, stars, and glimpses of the distant planets in our solar system. Our journey includes finding the constellations that speak to the ancient navigation traditions helping thousands of years of human history to successfully explore planet earth. We also provide black lights and flashlights to help navigate a short walk looking for movement. Some creatures may only be seen at night. My Arizona Guide will ensure a safe, fun, and memorable evening.
Arizona's amazing anthropological human history record begins over 15,000 years ago, from the elusive Clovis, Folsom, and Basket makers to the enigmatic Anasazi, Salado, and Hohokam to the modern Hopi, Pai, Pima, and newcomers the Apache and Navajo. For a millennium, the night sky has helped our ancestors the world oversail, walk, and ride into the great unknown. We will explore their understanding of astronomy and mathematics. It is truly astonishing.
Tours include water, juices, Arizona teas, fresh fruit, nuts, and snack bars.
The Desert After Dark & Navigating the Night Sky
- $130 Children under 12
- $595 Minimum
Superstition Mountain Wilderness Hiking Tour
This spring season we highlight our private wilderness hikes; the wildflowers are coming.
Our flexible 3-4 hour Superstition Mountain hiking easily accommodates any time constraints and allows guests to have a true wilderness experience right in their own backyard. Our record El Nino rains are sure to provide for a brilliant carpet of colorful desert blooms.
While many guests request a quick hike, what they really want is to explore the trail. Camelback, Squaw Peak, and the McDowell's though closer, are crowded, expert-level challenges and not nearly as much fun as a desert hike alone on a wilderness path.
Our short 45-minute drive is packed with insightful information on our ancient canal builders the Hohokam, an introduction to the modern Pima culture, and the history of Arizona's mining & motion picture industry in the Superstition Mountains, and brings us to the First Water Wilderness Trailhead.
The hikes vary from a gentle walk or a mountain climb, perfect for families to accommodate all skill levels. The trail takes us off the beaten path to explore the epic, raw beauty that is Phoenix's volcanic caldera. Along the way, we point out the Sonoran Deserts' cornucopia of edible & medicinal plants that have sustained ancient peoples for a millennium. There are springs in these mountains that have flowed for centuries, filtering for thousands of years through the porous basalt, providing vital water to all the living things in the area.
Chances are, we will not see any other people on our path. Guests rave, "we had no idea the desert was so green," they love getting out and enjoying these intimate, educational, eye candy journeys. It's hard to believe, standing there in the wild that 4 million people live just a few miles away.
Tours include backpacks, water, juices, Arizona teas, fresh fruit, nuts, and snack bars.
Superstition Mountains
- Children 10 and under $130.00
- Minimum: $550.00
Superstition Mountains
- Children 10 and under $155.00
- Minimum: $695.00
The Historic Apache Trail
Travel back in time on Arizona's infamous Apache Trail. The Superstition Mountains offer scenic beauty and the chance to see many of the plants and animals that survive in this harsh but spectacular environment. Explore the mountains famous for "The Lost Dutchman", Jacob Waltz. Teddy Roosevelt called The Apache Trail "one of the most spectacular, best-worth-seeing sights in the world". See it for yourself with "My Arizona Guide"
This historic road covers some of the most rugged terrains in Arizona. The land surrounding the road rises steeply to the north to form the Four Peaks Wilderness Area and to the south to form the Superstition Wilderness Area. The Superstitions have drawn people for thousands of years, and its innermost canyons harbor springs and thousand-year-old Indian ruins. Steep-sided canyons, rock outcroppings, and magnificent geologic formations are all along the road. Fish Creek Canyon is perhaps the most awe-inspiring section. The road hangs on the side of this high-walled canyon and winds its way along tremendous precipices that sink sheer for hundreds of feet below.
Apache Trail Tour
- Children 10 and under $135.00
- Minimum: $495.00
Apache Trail Tour
- Children 10 and under $150.00
- Minimum: $650.00
The first part of the Apache Trail climbs a hairpin road through the desert, revealing how the people of the Sonoran Desert survived for millennia by traversing along the path to the Salt River and then along to Theodore Roosevelt Lake. The paved portion of this road goes past 2 "ghost towns", Goldfield and Tortilla Flat and Canyon Lake, which offers first-rate fishing, mostly for bass and catfish. The upper lake also hides Skeleton Cave, the site of a grim battle in 1872. There, a cavalry patrol trapped a band of Yavapai Indians during the infamous Tonto Basin War.
The western slopes of the Superstitions have some of the most spectacular wildflower blooms in western Arizona, with Mexican gold poppies, blue lupine, and purple owl clover. Although not as frequently visited, Apache Lake offers excellent fishing and some of the best camping in central Arizona. When the lake is full, it stretches for 17 miles and measures 266 feet deep. The water supports the area's wildlife, including deer, coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, ringtails, mountain lions, and bighorn sheep. And lots of other critters you may never have heard of before.