Always Want To Go

What can you see and do in Globe, Arizona? As we continue to travel in this state, we make remarkable discoveries each day, as we recently did at Kartchner Caverns State Park. However, we particularly enjoy small-town history and wonders, which we found in Globe, Arizona.

Globe, AZ

This charming and historic town is the county seat of Gila County and began as a mining camp in the late 1800s. Silver mining was the initial focus, but it eventually was replaced by copper mining.

Today, Globe is a mining and ranching community with ever-increasing tourism. The town is situated in the beautiful, scenic Tonto Forest and offers many outdoor activities. Phoenix is only 100 miles away, making this a great weekend destination.

The name Globe comes from a large round-shaped piece of silver discovered nearby. That also explains the name of the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park and Museum located in Globe. Besh-Ba-Gowah is the Apache term for “place of metal.”

Historic Downtown Globe

Broad Street is the main street running through Globe’s historic district. Many historic buildings and modern businesses can also be discovered on a walk along this street. A few examples are:

The Holy Angels Catholic Church has existed for over 100 years, since 1918! This church, included in the Register of Historic Places, is a beautiful structure with eye-catching stained glass windows.

Vida e Caffé is a modern-day coffee shop serving delicious coffees, fantastic pastries, and baked goods. We enjoyed coffee and pastries here one early morning before heading out to explore the area, and Vida e Caffé appears to be immensely popular with the locals.

The Old County Sheriff’s Office and Jail, constructed in 1910 and shown above, is a museum offering tours by appointment. The building is likely full of ghosts, and many ghost stories are associated with it. Ghost tours are given here.

The magnificent Cobre Valley Center for the Arts is in the former 1905 Gila County Courthouse. It is another Globe building on the National Register of Historic Places.

Pickle Barrel Trading Post

The Pickel Barrel Trading Post is a souvenir shopping experience. You can find fantastic turquoise jewelry, Native American art, T-shirts, framed art, collectibles, and tons of other items. See the sign above, on the wall: “You won’t believe what’s inside!” NO JOKE! I have no idea why it is named Pickle Barrel.

Gila County RV Park & Batting Range

201 W Cottonwood St
and 130 W Ash Street
Globe, AZ 85501

An RV park/batting range? What an unusual combination! This park, however, is a trendy local spot popular with baseball players in the area. This RV park was a safe and comfortable spot to use as our home base for a few days. We had no idea we’d find batting cages here.

The RV park has two sections, and we stayed in the smaller section, next to the batting range, where we mainly found full or long-term residents parked. The staff here were wonderfully helpful and made us feel very welcome in Globe at this family-owned business.

Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park

This museum, archaeological park, and gardens are about a mile from our RV park in Globe. They include a partially restored Salado pueblo between AD 1225 and AD 1400 and a beautiful garden and museum.

The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain used the term pueblo to refer to permanent indigenous towns they found in the region, mainly in New Mexico and parts of Arizona, in the former province of Nuevo México.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pueblo

Salado is the name given to the prehistoric people that inhabited the region during this time. This pueblo functioned as a redistribution center for goods and ceremonial activities.

Here, we learned that —

1. The floor levels differ in many of the rooms, even adjoining rooms. There is no explanation for these different levels.
2. Most rooms had no windows, and most had only roof hatchways used as entryways or smokeholes. Often, these hatchways were the only source of light in a room.
3. The largest room excavated is believed to have been the ceremonial community center.
4. A portion of the pueblo has yet to be excavated. Seeing the difference between those sections and the excavated areas was interesting.

A beautiful botanical garden with seasonal flowers, vegetables, and plants is a living illustration of plants the Salado people grew here.

I’d never seen pomegranates growing on a tree before!

Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park is a sight you should not miss when visiting Globe.

Tonto National Monument

Our day trip to the Tonto National Monument (30 miles from Globe) was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences. This Monument is two spectacular Salado peoples cliff dwellings over 700 years old, and built into natural caves in the beautiful Tonto National Forest.

There is a Lower Cliff Dwelling and an Upper Cliff Dwelling. Although only a one-mile round trip hike, the elevation increase to climb to the lower cliff dwelling was a little taxing for us senior folks. We did not attempt the three-mile walk to the Upper Cliff Dwelling.

This cliff dwelling, inhabited for over 100 years, is amazingly well preserved. It was a very moving, almost spiritual experience to walk through the rooms built and occupied so many hundreds of years ago.

The smaller lower cliff dwellings, consisting of 20 rooms, would have been inhabited by 40 to 60 people at one time. The larger upper cliff dwellings were more than twice that size.

Our trusty Jeep

What would a day trip in the mountains be without a mechanical malfunction? Just part of the adventure, right? When we arrived at the Tonto Monument Visitor’s Center, Steve discovered engine coolant leaking under the Jeep.

We left the Jeep to cool down as we went on our merry adventure to visit the cliff dwellings. When we returned at the end of the day, we slowly drove to a convenience store, filled the radiator with engine coolant, and returned to Globe and our RV.

Getting over the mountain was a moderate concern, but we made it back to Globe without a problem and have not had a problem since. I did, however, have visions of being stranded on the highway and attacked by bears. Yes, sometimes I am overly dramatic.

We have another excellent travel experience in the books here. Globe is now on my gigantic list of places to revisit. I could spend an entire week here. We didn’t even have a chance to visit the mine!