Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Balkans road trip
Bosnia and Herzegovina • 9 days, 8 nights
Balkans Road Trip: Serbia, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Slide Memorial
Grande Caryatid
Oblazy Mills
Baguio Museum
Ibaloi Fire Mummy
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
Caru' cu Bere
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
An illustration of Port Royal from the book “On the Spanish Main.”
Port Royal: The Rise and (Literal) Fall of a Booming Pirate City
about 3 hours ago
Museum founder Paul Stewart often traveled to local classrooms, like this Denver elementary school, to share the stories of Colorado’s Black Cowboys.
The Black American West Museum Celebrates the Black Cowboy
1 day ago
Charlie’s Place: Music, Mystery & Civil Rights.
Charlie’s Place Episode 1: Whispering Pines
2 days ago
The Golden Gate Bridge as seen from the Marin Headlands at sunrise.
Listener Stories of Leaving Home: From San Francisco to Japan
5 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Arizona Apache Junction The Superstition Mountain Museum

The Superstition Mountain Museum

This collection of Wild West movie memorabilia also claims to hold some secrets of the Lost Dutchman's mine.

Apache Junction, Arizona

Added By
allisonbeckert23
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Action mounted taxidermy bobcat and quail.   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
Action mounted taxidermy bobcat and quail.   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
Buggies and carts in the Apacheland barn.   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
Photo op stage coach complete with sun bleached driver and mannequin horses.   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
Rescued movie props from buildings lost in the 2004 fire.   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
Elvis Chapel where marriages are actually performed regularly, though Elvis can be secreted away for the events.   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
Elvis Chapel.   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
The Peralta Stone Maps plaque.   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
The Peralta Stone Maps   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
One of several mannequins in the museum and in posed scenes.   allisonbeckert23 / Atlas Obscura User
Superstition Mountains Apache Junction Arizona   Gayinspandex / Atlas Obscura User
Superstition Mountains Apache Junction Arizona   Gayinspandex / Atlas Obscura User
Superstition MOuntains Apache Junction Arizona   Gayinspandex / Atlas Obscura User
Elvis Chapel & Apacheland in Winter   Snapping Fire Dragon / Atlas Obscura User
Elvis Chapel in the Winter   Snapping Fire Dragon / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

At the foot of the Superstition Mountains, the Superstition Mountain Museum is a tourist trap in the middle of the Arizona desert that remembers the filming of a number of Western films as well as exploring the legend of the Lost Dutchman's mine. Also, Elvis weddings. 

Most of the old movie sets that once made up an extensive open-air museum known as "Apacheland" burned up in a fire in 2004, however two of the original buildings from the Apacheland attraction were moved to the Superstitions mountains site. 

The Audie Murphy Apacheland Barn houses a number of horse-drawn buggies and carts used in the 17 television series, 29 full-length feature films, and hundreds of commercials filmed on the site. Scattered around the grounds are a few kitschy Old West scenes and full-size dioramas, complete with plenty creepy old mannequins. If you have a little change in your pocket, you can even try to toss a coin or two into the open mouth of the barber/dentist’s patient, posed with his plastic mouth wide open. 

Just a stone’s throw away is the Elvis Chapel, a mini-museum and wedding chapel dedicated to “the King” and his unique western movie “Charro!” also filmed on site. 

The museum devoted to the area itself is tucked behind the gift shop through an indoor iron gate and for a $5 fee you can go in and see a taxidermy display of native wildlife in action poses and a number of displays about life in the region. 

Of special note are the crudely engraved local sandstone blocks. These are known as the Peralta Stones, widely believed to be key pieces in the search for the Lost Dutchman Mine. This legendary mine’s location has been unknown since the death of its most famous owner, a Dutchman who lived in the 1800's. He allegedly stumbled on the mine, shot the owners, and died late in life after giving only a list of cryptic clues as to the location of his incredibly lucrative gold mine. Generations of searchers have scoured the Superstitions and several have died in the search, with at least five deaths confirmed over the past 150 years. The museum features several artifacts surrounding the Lost Dutchman legend, and is often visited by those brave and stubborn individuals who still launch searches into these lethal mountains.

 

Related Tags

Film Museums Mines Wild West Film Locations Roadside Attractions

Know Before You Go

It's not hard to find as long as you keep to the highway and follow the signs. The Museum has no paved parking, so the dirt turn off sneaks up on you. Come in the winter or early spring months as it gets very hot outside.

Community Contributors

Added By

allisonbeckert23

Edited By

Snapping Fire Dragon, Gayinspandex

  • Snapping Fire Dragon
  • Gayinspandex

Published

July 2, 2014

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g29033-d2624665-Reviews-Superstition_Mountain_Museum-Apache_Junction_Arizona.html
  • http://www.arizonaguide.com/things-to-do/superstition-mountain-museum-apache-junction-az
  • http://www.visitphoenix.com/things-to-do/374/superstition-mountain-lost-dutchman-museum/details.aspx
The Superstition Mountain Museum
4087 North Apache Trail
Apache Junction, Arizona
United States
33.446798, -111.501808
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Salt River Wild Horses

Mesa, Arizona

miles away

Park of the Canals

Mesa, Arizona

miles away

Organ Stop Pizza

Mesa, Arizona

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Arizona

Arizona

United States

Places 286
Stories 25

Nearby Places

Salt River Wild Horses

Mesa, Arizona

miles away

Park of the Canals

Mesa, Arizona

miles away

Organ Stop Pizza

Mesa, Arizona

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Arizona

Arizona

United States

Places 286
Stories 25

Related Places

  • Techatticup Mine.

    Nelson, Nevada

    Techatticup Mine

    This famous Nevada gold mine, once a hotbed of Wild West shenanigans, is now open for tours.

  • Newberry Springs, California

    Bagdad Cafe

    The set location for a 1987 cult classic draws international film buffs to the middle of the Mojave Desert.

  • The Outsiders House

    Tulsa, Oklahoma

    The Outsiders House Museum

    Once in disrepair, the house where the 1983 film was shot has been restored and turned into a museum.

  • The crossroads.

    Neece, Texas

    'Cast Away' Crossroads

    It's where the final scene of the beloved Tom Hanks movie was filmed.

  • Bastrop, Texas

    The Gas Station

    The pit stop from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" now serves beef and pork barbecue, not people.

  • The Karen Blixen Museum in Nairobi.

    Nairobi, Kenya

    Karen Blixen Museum

    The farmhouse owned by the Danish author who wrote "Out of Africa" is now a museum honoring her legacy.

  • Figure of Tor Johnson, from Plan 9 From Outer Space

    Monroeville, Pennsylvania

    The Living Dead Museum

    This little museum in the town where zombies were born celebrates the living dead.

  • The Rocky Statue in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    Rocky Statue

    Yo, Adrian!

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.