Fish Creek Hill is the moment on the Apache Trail when the road stops being polite. Past Tortilla Flat the pavement gives way to graded dirt, and then the road comes to the lip of Fish Creek Canyon and drops over the edge in a steep, winding descent with an ugly drop beside you and no guard rail. The grade is steep, the gravel is loose, and the width is one lane in places. Cars slow to a crawl, and on a motorcycle it demands your full attention and a light hand on the brakes.
The canyon is the reward. The walls are streaked in red, yellow and green volcanic rock, and the vegetation is the classic Sonoran mix of saguaro, ocotillo, cholla and palo verde, with a thin line of cottonwood along the creek far below. There is a pull-out at the top where you can park and take stock before committing to the descent, and many travellers get off their vehicles, look down and take a deep breath. Photographs seldom do justice to the angle. The light in the late afternoon turns the cliffs a deep orange.
The Apache Trail was built in the early twentieth century to supply the construction of Roosevelt Dam, and the road follows an older route used by the Apache and by prospectors in the Superstition Mountains. It was once the main road to Globe, and travellers on it described it as one of the most terrifying roads in America. The terror has been somewhat reduced by grading, but the scenery is the same. Today the road is maintained as a historic route, though flash floods and rockfalls cause closures, and the dirt section is often rough with washboard.
For riders, the main factors are tyres, nerve and timing. A dual-sport or adventure bike is ideal, and a heavy cruiser or tourer will find it hard going. Go slowly, stay in the centre of the track where it is firm, and give way to uphill traffic. Do not ride it after rain, when the dirt becomes slick and the creek crossings flood. Gold Canyon and Apache Junction, to the west, have fuel and food, so fill up there, and carry water because the sun in the canyon is hot.