Native American Surprise | Estrella Mountain Foothills, AZ

By admin | January 22, 2021 |

Not to be confused with South Mountain, the more popular mountain range south of the valley; the Sierra Estrella Mountains, Spanish for star range, are rarely talked about when discussing mountains around the Phoenix area. My family and I have lived in Goodyear for a while now, so we consider these mountains to be home. We’ve primarily explored the western side of the range due to the eastern side being the Gila River Indian Community, but no matter which side of the mountain you’re on, there’s always something new to find that 9 times out of 10 will tell an interesting story about past civilizations that have also called these mountains home.

Statue of Jesuit Priest – Father Kino – Gila River Indian Community 2/12/17

Recently on our way back home, coming from another adventure in Tucson, Google Maps gave us an alternate route that directed my boys and I to Mobile, AZ. From there we ended up following a dirt road for a gas line around the southwestern tip of the Estrella’s and up along the entire western side south to north passing several smaller foothill type hills. Eventually the dirt road met pavement and we found ourselves deep in Rainbow Valley coming up the back side into Estrella Mountain Ranch. If you know the area then you likely have a good sense of what I’m explaining.

Stone Formation South of the Estrella’s 1/3/21

While on the dirt road following the gas line, we stopped and got out to stretch our legs and let Captain, our treasure hunting Golden, go pee. Four young kids and a dog all in the Suburban together for a few hours can be brutal. Stopping to get energy out was a MUST. While stopped, my son Travis and I walked around checking the hills and rocks for any signs of anything cool that may interest us. Well, we didn’t find much and decided to load back up a short while later. While driving out I noticed a wash that led directly to the base of the foothill we were exploring. I thought to myself, if there’s anything around here it would likely be right there where the water meets the shelter of the hills. The adventurer in me wanted to pull right back over and go check it out, but knew I had to get the boys home and out of the burb. I stored the area in my vault of areas in my head and planned on going back at later date.. Everyday for the next week I thought about calling into work and calling one of my boys in sick to school so we could go back out there. I never did.. Finally, after a very long, and what seemed like forever, week we found ourselves back.

Wash Leading to Base of Foothills 1/10/21

WE WERE RIGHT! When we left that morning, my son Travis and I were talking about the probability that if anyone would have been there they would have likely stayed close to the water. As we got closer and closer we got quieter and quieter, likely thinking about all the lost gold and lost treasure we were about to find. There’s no denying this deep thought we get into likely happens every time. We had our detectors with us. Our battery packs were charged. We had plenty of water. We were ready. When we pulled up to our spot we were a little worried due to some people shooting into the side of the hills not too far away. After quickly calculating our risk, we realized were fine and proceeded to gear up. We literally took a few steps, looked up and saw our first sign of past civilizations.

Travis next to Native American Petroglyphs 1/10/21

After seeing the petroglyph we were both excited and a little bummed out. Out of respect, I’ve taught my boys that we don’t ever metal detect areas we find petroglyphs at. Instead, we put our machines away and pulled out our cameras. We ended up walking all over that hill and found several interesting things. We spent a few hours taking photos, climbing and hiking, and joking about random boy things such as fart sounds and other funny adolescent topics. Around noon, the sun was directly above us bearing down with no cloud cover of any kind. Yes, it’s January, but even during the cooler months the desert sun can be powerful!