Besh-Ba-Gowah is an ancient pueblo ruin found in Globe, Arizona. We took I-60 east today to Besh-Ba-Gowah, about 60 miles from Apache Junction. The drive goes through desert terrain, and eventually winds through picturesque mountains as you climb to the town of Globe. Besh-Ba-Gowah is an archaeological site where remnants of the Hohokam and Salado Indians lived, in the years 900-1100 and 1225-1400, respectively. The Apache eventually lived here starting around 1600. Items such as pieces of clothing, jewelry and baskets were found at Besh-Ba-Gowah. Interestingly, the original pueblo was three stories – the first floor most likely used for storage, the second floor for some living, and the top, open floor for living and socialization.
The archaeological park consists of the ruins, also a museum with interesting artifacts that were excavated from the site, as well as an informative movie (10 minutes or so) that was good to watch before we toured the ruins, a small gift store, and an ethno-botanical garden that you can stroll at your leisure.
The admission to Besh-Ba-Gowah is $3/adult and $2/senior citizen, and they honor AAA with 25% discount. The park is somewhat accessible, there are a couple ladders if one wants to see the top stories of the pueblo.
If this is your type of thing, then you may want to take the drive to Globe to see the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park, but it is a long drive if this sort of thing doesn’t peak your interest. For a longer day drive, you can continue to the Tonto National Monument, which is in Roosevelt, about a 45-minute drive from Globe.
2 comments:
Another place for us to visit! Thanks for being our advance team! Thanks also for mentioning accessibility. That's important to lots of us senior citizens, even those not needing chairs or scooters, just a reasonably good place to walk.
Question: that ruin looks awfully sound. Can we assume that it is a reconstruction rather than the original? It's in much better shape than the Casa Grande Ruin from about the same era.
Some of the ruins are reconstructed (like the larger buildings), but there is also some original structure still standing, such as the ceremonial room.
Be sure to dress warm - it was about 10 degrees cooler due to elevation gain!
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