Lost Dutchman State Park is located at Apache Junction, east of Phoenix. It borders on one side with the imposing Superstition Mountains, but you can enjoy mountain views all around. We decided to spend the night at the campground and admire the mountains at sunset and sunrise. The campground gets booked quickly, especially when the temperature is mild. Book early. There are several RV, water-electric campsites. There are also more primitive campsites. Campsites are reasonably spaced and some have spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. On a clear day, you can see the snow-capped mountains at a distance. At sunset, the sun rays reflect back to the walls of the Superstition Mountains giving them the beautiful red color that you often see in the pictures.

In this area, we hiked Flatiron — see our earlier post — but there are also many other hikes to do here. A popular one we would like to do is the ridge trail that connects Flatiron with Superstition Mountain.

There is also a more direct trail to Superstition Mountain, via Hieroglyphic trail. The trailhead is about 30 minutes from Lost Dutchman State Park. As you drive South on 60 from Apache Junction, take a right on S King Ranch Road and follow the arrows for “Trail”. If the parking is full, you can park on the side of the road a few miles earlier. You can also wait for a spot at the parking lot. The day we went — a good sunny day in March during corona times — the parking lot was busy.

We decided to avoid the crowds. So we did not take the popular Hieroglyphic trail. Instead, we hiked the Wedding Cake Hill Trail. The first part of the trial is well marked and clear. We were supposed to reach the top of a cake-like hill, but we got lost on the way up and ended in a different area, equally beautiful. When you ascend the hill, the trail becomes less easy to follow. We did not check the map but we should have. We plan to get to the top another time!