San Tan Mountain Regional Park

Comprising over 10,200 acres in the Sonoran Desert, the park sits south of Queen Creek Arizona and preserves a portion of the San Tan Mountains, located on their northeastern flank. It is located approximately 30 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix. Higley Basin is its northern border, while Chandler Heights sits to its northwest. The western and southern portions of the park are bordered by the Gila River Indian Reservation. The elevation of the park varies between 1,400 and 2,500 feet, with the highest point in the park situated in the Malpais Hills at 2,539 feet. Goldmine Mountain which sits in the northern section of the park, with the Malpais Hills in the south, between them sit an unnamed central highlands. These three mountain groups rise above the general plain of the park, which sits at 1500 feet. Proterozoic and Laramide granites are the predominant geology of the park, while Mid-Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks overlay Proterozoic and Cretaceous crystalline rocks in the central and eastern portions. The majority of exposed bedrock is either granite or schist, with rhyolitic volcanics existing in the northern Malpais Hills. There is an educational area detailing the lives of the desert tortoise. As of 2022, there are nine multiuse trails in the park, most of which are open to hiking, cycling and horseback riding. They include the Little Leaf Trail (0.7 mile), Stargazer Trail (0.8 mile), the Hedgehog Trail (1 mile), Moonlight Trail (1.3 miles), and San Tan Trail (6.4 miles). The Goldmine Trail (2.5 miles) allows you to hike to the highest point in the park. The park has three entrances, on the north, east and south sides of the park. At the main entrance to the park off Phillips Road, there is a visitor center (built in 2005) with restrooms, a drinking fountain, indoor and outdoor desert-animal exhibits, and a small gift shop. The Goldmine entrance has parking and portable restrooms. The Rock Peak Wash trailhead has no services. ==History==

Human presence in the area goes back to circa 1100-1450 A.D., the "classic period" of Hohokam history, consisting of rockpile fields located on large portions of the area. These are recognized as a sign of agricultural activity by the Hohokam, who most likely farmed agaves, yuccas, and chollas. With a few exceptions, the entire area was largely undeveloped before 1975. Those exceptions include minor prospecting, some cattle grazing, and a stagecoach trail. In 1948 two prospectors, Mansel Carter and Marion Kennedy moved into the area. Carter was originally from Ohio, and after several different careers in his younger years which included piloting and logging, he moved to Gilbert in 1941, where he opened a camera shop. Kennedy was an American Indian from Oklahoma, where he attended the Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania with Jim Thorpe. Initially they lived in a cave near the foot of Goldmine Mountain, prior to building a shanty outside the cave. The two made their living by mining small claims in the area, finding copper, silver, turquoise, and gold. Over the next dozen years they used the proceeds of their mining to file 55 claims, which are still owned by Carter's heirs. Kennedy died in 1960 at the age of 86. After his death, Carter continued to mine, but also began to whittle figurines out of local wood and cactus skeletons. Nicknamed the "Old Man of the Mountain", he died at the age of 85 in 1987. The park was created in 1986 on approximately 6,800 acres owned by the United States Bureau of Land Management. An additional 3,400 acres owned by Maricopa County was incorporated into the park during the 1990s. The park is reached by paved roads; no roads or trails inside the park are paved except the area at the visitor center. The surrounding area consists mostly of agricultural fields, desert flats, low-lying hills, and housing developments. ==References==