Arizona State Route 51 from Piestewa Peak

Between 2010 to 2013 I lived about half a mile north of the Phoenix Mountains Preserve which allowed me access to the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail. The Piestewa Peak Summit Trail ascends to the top of 2,610 foot high Piestewa Peak which overlooks the majority of the City of Phoenix and Arizona State Route 51.

The Piestewa Peak Summit Trail off of Squaw Peak Drive in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. The Piestewa Peak Trail is a fast 2.2 mile round-trip but ascends 1,151 feet and can be just as difficult as nearby Camelback Mountain.

The view back down the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail from Piestewa Peak really puts into relief how steep it is.

Piestewa Peak is the second highest peak in the Phoenix Mountains after Camelback Mountain. The mountain was originally known as Squaw Peak as early as 1910 but was renamed to Piestewa Peak in 2003. The name of Piestewa Peak comes from Lori Piestwa of the U.S. Army and member of the Hopi Tribe. Lori Piestewa was the first Native American woman to die in combat as member of the U.S. Military.

From Piestewa Peak the entirety of the 16.7 Arizona State Route 51 can be seen traversing through downtown Phoenix at I-10/AZ 202 north through the Phoenix Mountains to AZ 101.

AZ 51 was originally envisioned as part of the original Interstate system as a spur of Interstate 10 north out of downtown Phoenix. This Interstate Spur was ultimately not included into funding during the original run of Interstates in Arizona but would appear on ADOT logs as I-510 before being changed to AZ 510 in 1968. The route of AZ 510 was to known as the Squaw Peak Freeway.

Oddly the first five miles of AZ 510 north of I-10 to Glendale Avenue were constructed by the City of Phoenix between 1986 and 1991. In 1987 the route number of AZ 510 was changed to the current designation of AZ 51. In 1992 the original five miles of AZ 51 was turned over to ADOT for maintenance which in turn reconstructed it to state standards in 2003. AZ 51 was completed from Bell Road north to AZ 101 in May of 2003 and I actually recall driving it the week after it had opened. 2003 also saw the Squaw Peak Parkway name changed to Piestawa Peak Parkway to reflect the renaming of Piestewa Peak.

Arizonaroads on AZ 51

Comments

Old NY 10 and Goodman Mountain in the Adirondacks

Old highway alignments come in all shapes and sizes, as well as taking some different forms after their lifespan of serving cars and trucks has ended. In the case of an old alignment of what was NY 10 south of Tupper Lake, New York, part of the old road was turned into part of a hiking trail to go up Goodman Mountain. At one time, the road passed by Goodman Mountain to the east, or Litchfield Mountain as it was known at the time. As the years passed, sometime around 1960, the part of NY 10 north of Speculator became part of NY 30, and remains that way today from Speculator, past Indian Lake and Tupper Lake and up to the Canadian Border. At one time, the highway was realigned to pass the Goodman Mountain to the west, leaving this stretch of road to be mostly forgotten and to be reclaimed by nature. During the summer of 2014, a 1.6 mile long hiking trail was approved the Adirondack Park Agency to be constructed to the summit of the 2,176 foot high Goodman Mountain. For the first 0.9 mi

Oregon State Highway 58

Also known as the Willamette Highway No. 18, the route of Oregon State Highway 58 (OR 58) stretches some 86 miles between US 97 north of Chemult and I-5 just outside of Eugene, Oregon. A main route between the Willamette Valley region of Oregon with Central Oregon and Crater Lake National Park, the highway follows the Middle Fork Willamette River and Salt Creek for much of its route as it makes its way to and across the Cascades, cresting at 5,138 feet above sea level at Willamette Pass. That is a gain of over 4,500 in elevation from where the highway begins at I-5. The upper reaches of OR 58 are dominated by the principal pinnacle that can sometimes be seen from the highway, Diamond Peak, and three nearby lakes, Crescent, Odell and Waldo (Oregon's second largest lake). OR 58 is chock full of rivers, creeks, mountain views, hot springs and waterfalls within a short distance from the highway. OR 58 was numbered as such by the Oregon State Highway Department in 1940. OR 58 is a del

Siuslaw River Bridge - US 101 in Florence, Oregon

As the Oregon Coast Highway (US 101) was being completed across the State of Oregon during the 1930s, a number of bridges needed to be built to cross some of the state's finest rivers. In Florence, Oregon , the Siuslaw River Bridge was designed and constructed to help fill in the gaps between different coastal communities. Built in 1936, the Siuslaw River Bridge is a bascule bridge flanked by two reinforced concrete arches that spans across the Siuslaw River. The bridge and the river get their names from the Siuslaw tribal people who make their home along the river valleys of this part of the Oregon Coast. Today, the bridge provides a vital link connecting US 101 and the Central Oregon Coast to points north and south. The total length of the Siuslaw River Bridge is 1,568 feet, stretching across the river. But more specifically, the bridge is made up of a north approach with eight spans of reinforced concrete deck girder totaling 478 feet in length. There is a main span in three

Gribblenation

Search This Blog