View Point Ahead

The Salt River Canyon view point. Logs from the mountains above form the superstructure of the shade area, while its base is native stone. The butte on the left, with its "Swiss Cheese" top, was named for Gustav Becker, a pioneer who devoted his life to the development of this area.

LANDSCAPE ENGINEER ARIZONA HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT ILLINOIS IOWA, MICHIGAN, New York, Penn sylvania, Texas and California. Sounds like the roll call at a convention. But that's where you're wrong. It's just an average group of tourists at a roadside viewpoint. From all over the United States, Canada and Mexico they come to visit Arizona-to enjoy her beau ties to relax and we, the Highway Depart ment, are glad to have them.

Bragging seems to be one of the basic elements of human nature, and in so doing one always lays himself open to criticism-even ridicule. But we still stick to our story that God gave Arizona scenic attractions second to none in the world. And the nice thing about them is thefact that they are largely, solely ours. For where else can you find a Grand Canyon? Painted Desert? Monument Valley? Saguaro Forest? To see them you must visit Arizona. You can't compare them with other things, for there is no comparison. Perhaps the Creator willed it that way purposely, so that none might proclaim any one of them superior to the others. At any rate they are all here, along with thousands of other things equally wonderful, and all different. That's the nicest part about it all different.

fact that they are largely, solely ours. For where else can you find a Grand Canyon? Painted Desert? Monument Valley? Saguaro Forest? To see them you must visit Arizona. You can't compare them with other things, for there is no comparison. Perhaps the Creator willed it that way purposely, so that none might proclaim any one of them superior to the others. At any rate they are all here, along with thousands of other things equally wonderful, and all different. That's the nicest part about it all different.

To enable our guests to more fully enjoy these places, our department has been building view points where one may park his car and enjoy in safety and comfort an outstanding vista, an awe-inspiring chasm or an area of noteworthy beauty. These view points vary greatly in size, shape and treatment in accor dance with the locale and number of people they are expected to serve. They are as un obtrusive as possible so they will not "compete" with scenery. They also attempt to pro vide those things which nature omitted when the area was created. Shade, where it is needed; picnic tables, water for the thirsty, sanitary facilities, minor trails, fireplaces and protec tive barriers. Not all of the overlooks have all of these features. Some have only a few, while other are very complete, but each is de signed to serve the traveler as well as we possibly can with the funds available and the resources at hand.

Suppose we examine a few typical areas as the landscape engineer does when he studies them for development. Our first is a point on U. S. 60, opposite Becker Butte, near the head of Salt River Canyon. To many travelers entering Arizona from the East and Middle West, it offers their first view of a really stupendous gorge. The highway winds down a canyon almost as breathtaking in magnitude as the Grand Canyon-which will probably never be crossed by road-hundreds of feet be low, the Salt River boils over salt formations which give it its name. Across the canyon rise huge buttes that might be the castles of supermen, their faces pitted with caves that once housed prehistoric Indians. Surely, one should be able to stop here. There is very little shade, so it must be provided, and with it, picnic tables would not be amiss. Logs from the mountains above, can form our superstructure, while its foundation will logically be native stone, carefully keyed into the rocks below to keep us from sliding into the canyon. Now our next site is entirely different. We're at an altitude of over 7,000 feet in a forest of pines. The air is always cool here, and summer rains combined with winter snows supply a little spring not far away, with ice cold water. Our problem this time is simply providing a parking area, tables and fireplaces, along with garbage disposal units and sanitary facilities. This particular view point serves not only as a look-out for marvelous panorama, but functions also as a roadside park, killing two birds with one stone, as it were. Numerous other points have been developed as parking areas only, sometimes through lack of space or close proximity of developed camping areas. In this classification fall the look-outs at the head of Oak Creek Canyon, on Mingus Mountain and the top of Yarnell Hill. Psychologists could doubtless give us profound reasons why people like to perch atop some mighty crag or on the edge of a cavernous hole. They might say it serves an innate desire for mastery of all one surveys, or that it has been handed down as instinct from the primitive cave man when he climbed the tallest trees to watch for wild animals or unfriendly visitors from another tribe. Your guess is as good as mine, but I do know this for absolute fact. A very large proportion of the travelers on our highway system stop at the various view points. Many of them take pictures, others try to see how far they can throw rocks, while others just look. Here, too, the wayside artist displays his wares in carefully carved initials, names, towns and states. Some of these examples of refined vandalism are quite complicated and ornate. A highpoint in the unusual is the word "Texas" formed by driving hobnails into a rafter end on the shelter at Becker Butte. And certainly in better taste than the "Joe Doaks, Skunk Hollow 7-6-40" rendered in black or red paint on rock formations. Generally, we haven't suffered much damage from vandalism-whether this be in tribute to our efforts to make our work as indestructible as possible or a real sense of appreciation by the public.Safety also enters into the picture when view points are built. They not only give the traveler a chance to park safely but also afford him a rest from the fatigue of continuous driving. In some instances they have actually eliminated serious traffic hazards as does the one at the head of Oak Creek Canyon. Prior to its construction, people stopped against the crash rail on the left hand side of the highway where a sharp curve was combined with a steep mountain grade. Only a kindly providence saved many a bad smashup at this point. The use given this area is clearly shown in the photograph-taken under ordinary conditions, of an average group of travelers on an average day during the summer season.The little shelter in lower Oak Creek has its parking across the Road where sight distance is adequate for safe access and egress. Incidentally, Oak Creek Canyon has been rated by many as one of the most beautiful spots in the United States. Its wall of flaming sandstone rising above the rich verdure of the creek proper makes an unforgettable picture. Hereand there tiny vineyards and orchards cling precariously to the canyon walls. Large clear pools of cold spring water lure the swimmer and fisherman. And on all sides, abundant growth. Pine, alder, sycamore, oak and willow. Gnarled junipers, flaming sumac, wild grapes, and ferns. At the lower end of the Canyon, one finds conditions similar to the desert, with a liberal sprinkling of prickly pear and other cacti scattered through the junipers. A few more miles of driving brings him into groves of huge sycamores scenting the countryside with a heavy spicy odor. As the highway continues its climb, these give way to spar straight alders and yellow pine until finally it emerges on top to give an awe inspiring vista of the canyon below. Zane Grey's "Call of the Canyon" pays a splendid tribute to the beauty of Oak Creek, and of all the thousands who have visited it, I have never known one who was disappointed.Traveling farther north along U. S. 89, one skirts mile after mile of vermilion sandstone cliffs as he goes toward the only northern crossing of the Grand Canyon at Navajo Bridge, just a few miles south of the site of old Lee's Ferry. An already immensely popular view point was completed at this site only this last spring. Here a low ramada (shade area to you) hugs the top of the canyon, while a trail leads down from it to a place directly under the bridge. Cars stop here at all hours of the day and night. Noon will often find as many as a dozen of them parked for lunch, while their occupants seek a moment or two of leisure in the ramada's shade. Nearly everyone who parks here carries a rock or two out to the middle of the bridge to drop into the Colorado River, raging along nearly four hundred feet below. Our department fears that if this practice is not discontinued, there is grave danger of someday filling the Grand Canyon, thus destroying one of the world's greatest natural wonders.Still farther north, a new over-look now nearing completion, gives in one vast sweep all of the miles upon miles of glowing colors that form the southern boundary of Utah. Here mighty peaks rise in the distance to heights over two and one half miles above sea level. Tucked in the folds of the lower escarpments is the little Mormon town of Fredonia, also mentioned by Zane Grey, in his "Riders of the Purple Sage." Beyond and behind Fredonia rises the snow white tip of the Great White Throne in Zion National Park. In fact, so many things of interest may be seen from this view point that we have installed a range finder so that the visitor may enjoy them all.

You may have reached the conclusion by this time that the business of designing over-looks is simply a matter of listing physical requirements, fitting them into a formula and turning a crank to grind out the finished structures. Such is not quite the case, unless one is to be content with a uniform mediocrity. Nature in all her work shows a constancy of change that is a challenge to any designer. To be successful, any man-made structure must by some hook or crook achieve that subtle quality we call character. The finished work must feel at home in its setting.

This is mostly established through the use of native materials, placed with just the right degree of careless abandon to make them look like they "happened that way." Possibly the finest tribute ever offered was the statement made by an unadvised tourist at the Grand Canyon when she saw the construction scaffolding for the half finished Indian Watch Tower. "What a lovely old building! Isn't it a shame they're tearing it down?" "A boy's best friend is his mother" is no more true than the landscape engineer who can place implicit faith in the ability of his foreman to rightly interpret his plans. The structure must also be in scale the relation in proportion and materials that enables it to look exactly as it actually is. A simple The viewpoint at Marble Canyon. Detail can either make or break the character of a structure. and the casualness achieved here was accomplished only by painstaking care by the foreman and his men in interpreting their plans.

Illustration: take a photograph of any structure with no people present, then with a pencil draw a person in the picture. If your person is larger or smaller than he would actually appear in life, something is wrong with the scale, and adjustments are necessary. You have doubtless experienced this when in rooms that give you either the sensation of confinement, or on the other extreme, being in a barn.There are other bugaboos that must also be considered. Fire is one of the worst, whether maliciously or accidentally set. We have done considerable research to find something that would produce the delightful character of the Mexican ramada without its attending fire hazard. We have tried treated brush-which leaches out in the rain and must be retreated every few years to retain its fire resistance. Asbestos shingles are esthetically out of the question, and shakes are often unobtainable. Two by twelve inch planks spiked flat to log rafters form excellent shade, and fit in nicely where flat roofs are in order. To date they seem to be our best bet. Then there is our little friend, the termite. His voracious appetite makes treatment of timber exposed to the ground mandatory. We often go miles to get juniper or cypress posts to cut down the hazards of rot. And there are times when usable stone is almost nil. Exposed fresh stone cuts are to be avoided, and river boulders are structurally worthless. They always look like a pile of eggs, about to collapse at any minute, regardless of how carefully they may be laid up. But all these things are part of the game. Knowing them, like the snake in the grass, we can usually avoid them-though not always without difficulty.

The development of such view points and overlooks is an integral part of the Arizona highway system and considerable care is being taken to make them as attractive and substantial as possible.Motorists visiting Arizona for pleasure are out to "see the country." They generally want to do as good a job of it as possible and a few min utes by the side of the road may return great dividends in travel pleasure.

The traveler realizes and appreciates this and (Continued on Page Forty-One)Lower Oak Creek at Midgley Bridge: a photographer's paradise. View points are designed to aid the traveler in seeing the country. Below, on opposite page, a view of Salt River canyon from the south. The highway in the center distance seems in places to be supported on sky hooks.