Arizona's Abandoned MILLION Dollar Highway Built by Convicts.. "Car Wrecks Found" 

I’ve lived in the queen creek area since 2004 but never knew much of the history surrounding the area! This video is so interesting!! Thank you!

The cylindrical holes found in the old tunnel are core samples take sometime in the 80s or 90s to check quality of the rock.

According to a local news story reprinted in Desert Magazine in the 1940's, workers building the [now] old Pinto Creek bridge on US 60 discovered a Spansih colonial-era mine on the west side of the canyon during construction of the bridge.

I lived in Riverside AZ. for close to 20 years, over 35 years ago and I drove this trail close to 100 times. This highway is quite possibly the prettiest part to drive through in the region. This walk through was fantastic, and the young man doing the video did a great job. High quality vocals, and great video. Though the amount of time spent just looking at each of those old car wrecks felt awfully long. Over All, Job Well Done bro.

It was amazing seeing those wrecks at the bottom of Queen creek, Lord knows how long they have been there, it just fascinates me! Wow!

Incredible footage. I enjoyed every minute of this. I love that you can still spot the faded center line on the highway.

Well done documentary! Really enjoyed this excursion into the past. Lovely!

Crazy timing - I’m running a race on that trail tomorrow! Love the history!

Before that was an official foot trail I would occasionally ride my motorcycle on that stretch. No graffiti back then. Go job on the video.

Great video Jessie. I really look forward to them.

I like how it's a "million dollar" highway as if all highways don't cost millions and millions to build.

@7:00 Interesting "spacing" between those blocks. I have driven on 60 before but was not aware of the "old" road. Thanks!

Great video 🙌 Your videos always make me enjoy my travels more and I have more appreciation for these places.

Jessie's back, glad to see and hear from ya....

the carvings in the walls is for core samples, to see mineral composition. As a rockhound, I found these on sides of areas, and on top of rock formations. The same is done to detect things like the amount of silver, gold in a location.

Thanks Jessie; Excellent video. My parents drove us on the early US 60 in late 1940's. Must have been treat for us to get out of the Big City Phoenix population ~ 60,000. In 1940 it was 50,000.

Crazy I used to live right by there in the 90s and never knew and I would have loved to explore it back then. Thank you for taking me there.

Wow, nicely made video, thank you for sharing!

That's a beautiful hike. I went through tech school (UTI) in 1972, living in Phoenix while learning to love the desert.

That my home turf always pass that old road. Thanks now I see what around the trail.

Really cool video and history! Thank you!

I live in Florence, this is litterally my backyard. I love hiking Mt Montaina just north of the highway.

cool! more history in your video than i expected!

WOULD MAKE GREAT BIKE PATH NOW!!

Love exploring and old history. Thanks for sharing. 😉

You have a great voice and tell a good story. Well done.

Really enjoyed the info and video.

Thank You! This was an incredible story and well told. Super research and pics and video. Really piqued my curiosity for all that AZ area. You've given this WI guy some good ideas.

I was born in globe in 1964,my dad worked at the Christmas mine in early 60s. Christmas mine is between Globe and Hayden Winkleman we lived in company housing on the mine site. Maybe your next adventure you could show us the old rd from globe to Hayden winkleman.

Very cool well done

awesome. great information

Nice. I go past that place all the time. Too bad you can't drive up on the Magma Ave trailhead. There are tons of abandon mines between superior, the area east toward Apache Leap, and west in the Hewett Canyon/Queen Valley area. There's a ton of stuff in that area that just disappeared in the past 100 years. One of these days I'm going to hike to Reavis Ranch... one of these days...

Its an open hole. "Where does it go ?" "Down!".

Cool👍

Hiked this with my dad and his friend last spring. Nice easy hike, makes you think of the movie, The Long Long Trailer.

GOOD WORK THANKS

I live here and love it! What a great video…

Convict labor on the American road system was very common. In Tempe the Old Mill Avenue Bridge was in fact Convict built; and when the big floods came in the 70’s Mill Avenue bridge was one of the only survivors of said flood.

Subbed! Love old history, especially old roads.

Interesting thank you ❤

Thanks!

Great video! Love this area. When we're in AZ next month, we're driving hwy 60 all the way to Springerville, then take hwy 191 south to 70 and back to Phoenix.

My grandfather helped build the tunnel shown and the mine opening with the ore bins was his mine. His name is Thomas Darrell Heron ( Sam )The road was mostly one lane with pullouts. My grandmother had a huge mercury automobile and my mom said her and her sisters were very scared while traveling to globe. Sam did the blasting for the tunnel. Cool vid. Thanks. G.

There was mention of the road being a bit small but in those days a country highway might have lanes of only 8-10 feet wide. Shoulders were also not a regular thing. The full width of that 2 lane tunnel might be 16 feet on a good day.

4:05 as someone who has driven through here in the past year, im here to inform you that they were doing some blasting next to the falls the last time I drove through

Interesting video. A person who used the old tunnel said they sometimes sent someone ahead to the other side to see if an over sized truck was approaching.

The rock constructions you saw was from an old stagecoach route that came down through the Queen Creek Canyon. At one time there was an old stage stop building at the head of the canyon which is now long gone. It was taken out when the present highway was widened.

Interesting area. If you had a fat tire e-bike it might make your exploration easier. Great video!

My Grandpa helped build the Apache Trail, he was the driver of a fresno, which was a mule drawn dump truck.

Nice background music too.

the 1977 Clint Eastwood movie "The Gauntlet", the part where the passenger bus is taken over was all filmed in Superior. A guy I knew that grew up there, was a welder for the mine, where he worked, and he told me that he welded the pig iron on the bus that was used as a bullet proof shield, and he met Clint. He said in 1973, since they had black belt karate tournaments that he met Bruce Lee, and Chuck Norris. A former Phoenix policeman that I met yesterday, told me that Globe was was Chuck Norris' hometown. The 1999 movie "U turns" with Sean Penn, and Jennifer Lopez was filmed in Superior.

5:53, The pioneers who traveled thru here were cut from a different cloth. And back then, you had to be. I love the life, but so glad I don't have to live it. We are way too spoiled. There is a series of books about two Hands who met on a ranch in Crowheart, Wy. They went into BC to build a ranch. Sleeping under tarps in 60 below zero weather. Didn't have Smartwool back then.

US60 has seen a lot ot upgrades since the early eighties. hauled a few loads of copper out of there after bringing building materials into Phoenix.

I lived in Superior all of my life. We as kids explored all of these areas that you are discovering. Look up the story about the Apache Leap and the Native Americans battling the cavalry. Hence the name. You should climb to the top of the Picket Post Mountain and leave something in the mailbox. Explore the arboretum. Go to the old Pinal cemetery where Matty Earp is buried. Pinal City still has the wagon tracks. Another place to explore would be the Old Silver King mine area.

I imagined driving that in a model T as I am sure many people did. The horror.

6:01 yeah dude its like the movie reddick lol

Jessie, I'm so embarrassed that comments I thought I posted on other videos went to yours. They're so irrelevant to your subject, you must've been scratching your head. 😭 I can go delete them if you want.

It’s amazing that convicts aren’t supposed to work.

Could those round holes in the tunnel have been used to set dynamite? Interesting video. Thanks.

If you would have put water on the rock you would have said everything on it clear as day when you get sun light hitting the rock it makes it really hard to see

2:26 could have been used to make the road base you see directly after that shot looking at the bride & the rest of the rd.

On mountain roads speed and loose nuts kill.

The holes in Claypool tunnel were likely cored for geology testing.

In my opinion the round holes in the tunnel are dynamite blast holes, drilled out to stuff explosives in. That would be my guess.

Your vids are really becoming a standard. That must be the Mav Mini4?

I was with a friend in Evergreen Colorado on the 4th of July 1976 when he drove off the side of a mountain! There were four of us in that car and halfway down a girl went out the side window, beat the car to the ground and the car landed on top of her! (I always take a sip of my beer at that point for effect!) The three of us climbed out the windows, two of us picked up the car with one of those adrenaline stories! Kevin pulled her out from underneath and the four of us walked away! We were young, we were drunk, we were bendable! If you see this kevin, you know who I am!

Watching this right now while I’m at work as a machinist in Ohio. Fantasizing about quitting, selling my home, dumping my girl and heading out west in a classic car. No schedule no planned route where times is not a concern anymore just seeking adventure.

I used to climb up above superior. Oak flats etc.

At 6:43 when looking at wrecked car. North of the wreck you can see two perfect stone walls looking like it creates a path or something else ?.

Scrolled through the comments, but didn't see a quick reply. The cylindrical boreholes are spaces to place explosives for excavation.

Did I see a tag for KEXP FM in one of those bore holes?

500k to build that tunnel and 25 million to build that bridge, damn inflation.

those perfect circle holes in the old tunnel are sample holes probably university or county

Looks like the sort of road and tunnels that inspired the Roadrunner cartoons.

👍👍

It was 70 degrees in MN in febuaray

Simply "safer", not "more safer".

I used to deliver appliances for Lowes, it was a god awful dangerous low pay job, almost died twice lol. Once by almost falling down a flight of stairs while carrying a HEAVY old front load washing machine out for recycling that was covered in dried, caked up laundry detergent, slipping from my grip all the way down. The other time I came inchs away from being plowed over by a Trump tard in a lifted pickup truck who thought it was cool to speed 50 miles an hour through a suburb street... Good thing I stopped and looked both ways before stepping around the back of the truck. Anyways, I worked in the Phoenix area and one day low and behold a delivery all the way out to Globe appears as a blip on my delivery app. I dreaded the thought of an hour + drive out, 30 - 60 min delivery/installation time and return trip seeing as I only got paid 12 dollars a delivery. To make things worst as soon as we got on that road through the canyon traffic was stopped to a crawl and backed up, it took about 40 minutes of stop and go before I discovered a semi trailer delivering bundles of hay had flipped over on its side and spilled its cargo all along the road. To my surprise the trip wasn't all that bad, and was one of the best days on that job. It was hard to be angry because the area was so beautiful and I got to really take it all in crawling along in a box truck at 5 miles an hour lol. I would love to hike that trail someday. When I finally got to the delivery location all we had to do was move the fridge in box into the back of the customer's pickup, THANK GOD. That made my day. The trip up was bitter sweet, the return was all joy, even though the hay spill was still slowing traffic on the way back. It must have been 3-4 hours all way round lol.

The abandoned sections of 60 north of Globe are in worse shape. Closer to Salt River some roads are still not too bad.

I rather have the heat all year round then getting cold weather or snow storms.

I'm betting the people in those days were thrilled just to get a road like that instead of rocky dirt horse wagon roads that were the norm. Keep in mind they only had cars like model T's that could only go 20 mph or so!

Sorry but your before and after shots are of opposite portals, the portal you first walked into was the same one from the old period photo. great video nevertheless, thanks.

Those holes are core sample holes they were checking for gold or copper or something

damn nilered has gained some weight.

Cover both ends, add access doors and you have a fallout shelter.

That's pretty cheap considering my town spent two million on a bridge that spans maybe twenty five feet!

FYI, when telling somebody a web address, you do not have to say WWW anymore.

"Cylinder-shaped" ~ think 'cylindrical'.

The tunnel is called "The Claypool Tunnel."

I think i saw another youtuber explore this b4

Like your video, wish you would reference your background music. Thanks

Can you rides trail bikes on this rt

Persons with stairs in their home live 10 years longer

Highway 74 Palm Desert was also built by convicts

Look how boring the new bridge looks epic end

That road is wider and still in better condition than the roads here in Ireland 😂

So I can't ride my Artic Cat?

6:09 bro has never been in Italy

Les Claypool's great grand daddy made that tunnel.

Million Dollar ? lol that will not get you 1km.. I think your math is off, even if done by convicts... You got any other false info you wish to spread ???