Overview
Let’s get LOST.
No, no- no need to power off your Google Maps app and wander in circles. 
LOST actually stands for Legends of Superior Trails. 
It’s an 11.65 mile path that, as its name suggests, traverses through Superior, Arizona which is about 60 miles east of the main Metro Phoenix area.
Superior is a small town that has changed its name like Taylor Swift changes boyfriends.
Initially, the town was named Queen, then Hastings, and then finally took the name of Superior.
In 1875, Superior began as a mining town. More than 70 million years ago, copper deposits formed from magma. In 1910, William Boyce Thompson and George Gunn organized the Magma Copper Company, which ended up producing 1,299,718 short tons of copper up until it closed in 1996.
The Legends of Superior Trails (LOST) connects history and is open to hiking, biking, and horseback riding. It starts at Picketpost Mountain where the Silver King Mine used to operate. The trail then passes through the riparian Arnett Canyon which follows a creekbed. Next it passes by the remains of the city of Pinal, which became a ghost town after the bust of silver prices. The trail’s last segment passes through downtown Superior and Queen Creek Canyon.
Below are the official names of the 5 sections.
The first three sections are not paved, while the fourth section that passes through Superior does have paved accessible sidewalks. The final fifth section has a gravel surface that is flat with gentle uphills.
- Arnett Canyon - 6.5 miles
- Pinal City Panther- 1.2 miles
- Miners & Ranchers- 1 mi
- Superior Town Center- 0.7 mi
- Queen Creek Canyon- 2.25 mi
The entire LOST trail system exists today thanks to the support of the Arizona Trail Association.
Together with the Town of Superior and Tonto National Forest, the LOST trail was built. In early 2020, with the help of an Americorps Crew, the final alignments of the trail were completed.
Old US 60 Highway @ Queen Creek Canyon
Don’t tell the other 4 sections of LOST that I said this, but the Queen Creek Canyon segment is the most beautiful and interesting. It starts on Magma Ave Trailhead - and there’s a small dirt lot that fits about 5 or so cars. Magma is most likely in reference to how the copper in this area formed from magma.
You can always find more parking off Main Street and then walk five minutes down the trailhead. Note, there are no restrooms or water fountains, so make sure to pack your own water.
The 2.25 miles (or 4.5 miles roundtrip) on this in-and-back path takes you along the Old US 60 Highway. While in the past it was closed off with a no trespassing sign, you can now venture down the Old US 60 that used to connect Superior to Miami (the next city down).
Construction on this highway began in 1919 and it was formally opened in April 1922.
It was nicknamed “Million Dollar Highway” because it reportedly cost $1 million to complete. Its other nickname was “Convict Highway” as convict labor was used to complete some of the toughest jobs, such as creating the tunnel.
The old US 60 Highway would have you gripping the steering wheel tightly as you navigated its dangerously tight turns, cliffs and grades. Along this stretch of road, there is not much shoulder room and even where there are guard rails, it’s quite low.
Attractions
There’s 3 main points of interest along the way.
In 1952, the old US 60 highway became defunct. It was rerouted onto the new wider and safer US 60 highway, which drivers now use. A large steel arch bridge, known as Queen Creek Arch Bridge was constructed to allow traffic to travel across the canyon.
It takes about 20 minutes to get to this bridge from the Magma Ave Trailhead. You don’t quite realize how high up you are when driving over it. Once standing under it, only then do you see its towering height as what appears to be toy cars pass by above. Under the bridge, Queen Creek flows.
This is the first bridge you pass by as you walk on the Legends of the Superior Trail from the Magma Avenue trailhead. It takes about 10 minutes to reach it. There is railing on both sides to keep you safe as you walk across it. The scenic Queen Creek also flows underneath this bridge as well. Nearby are several wells and a large metal storage tank.
The Old Queen Creek Bridge was constructed in 1920, and is on the National Register of Vehicular Bridges. The bridge is classified as an open spandrel concrete arch bridge. It has a curved concrete road supported by arches, and there is an open area between the road and the arch. This was an expensive and difficult design to create.
The Old Queen Creek Tunnel is also known as Claypool Tunnel, and it opened in 1926 as part of the old US 60 highway. It measures 300 ft long and was formed by a hole blasted into the rocks. It’s been abandoned for more than 50 years.
This tunnel is located at the very end of the Legends of the Superior Trail.
There are interesting drawings on the wall, and the tunnel is well lit from the outside light. After you pass through, then within a few minutes, you will approach the end of the trail at the Scenic Overlook parking lot.
Wildlife
As you walk along the Queen Creek Canyon Trail, you may encounter the following types of wildlife:
- red tailed hawk (named for its red tail, and this bird has a wingspan of 105 to 141 cm)
- white-tailed deer
- black-tailed rattlesnake (their tails make a rattling sound to warn you not to approach)
- javelina (a meaner version of pig with sharp bristles)
- canyon wren (a small brown bird)
Fun facts
Here are some other random fun facts:
- I discovered this trail when zooming in on Google Maps to see what was out there in city of Superior. From there, I saw the Magma Avenue Trailhead. I was a bit hesitant to explore as it was eerily quiet when I drove by. The first time I set foot on the trail- there was a race going on and the runners chatting and admiring the scenery made me feel at ease. The trail no longer felt creepy but rather a lively spot to explore history.
- Prior to the existence of the old US 60 highway, a trip from Phoenix to Miami (next city after Superior) would take an entire day. After opening, that trip only would take 3 and half hours.
- The Old Queen Creek Tunnel (aka Claypool Tunnel) was replaced by the Queen Creek Tunnel which was constructed during 1952 and opened to traffic during 1953.
- As convict labor was used for building the old US 60 highway, a prison camp was built nearby. Just past the water tank on the Queen Creek Canyon trail, there are numbers carved in a rock. This is believed to be the identification numbers of the inmates who worked on the road.
Here is a video walkthrough that takes you on a virtual tour of the Queen Creek Canyon trail segment.
Sources:
These are the list of resources I used to research and write my article:
- Superior AZ Trails
- Superior Arizona- Our Story
- AZDOT- Claypool
- AZ Backcountry Adventures
- Signs along the trail
They then feed the posted article to Bard to have it generate questions for our meetup game. While I haven’t directly used Bard just yet, I was able to audit its end result. I love how it’s such a time saver for brainstorming questions, and it was quite creative in making some tricky questions. The downside are the occasional typos and unclear question-answer pairs, which I went back to fix. Looks like Bard won’t be taking over human game show hosts just yet. 
