Rising majestically 3,000 feet above the floor of a desert wilderness, the Superstition Mountains stands guard, separating urban hustle and bustle from the desert stillness, protecting a veritable horde of ancient treasures -- artifacts of the long-ago Pima and Apache Native Americans, remnants of the Spanish conquistadors, and most notably, the unimaginable fortunes locked deep inside Jacob Waltz’s long-lost gold mine, a cache of riches that still waits to be discovered.

Thousands still search for that Lost Dutchman Gold Mine, but thousands more know the real treasures to be found today lie in Gold Canyon, the aptly-named upscale Arizona real estate community that’s home to no fewer than five championship 18-hole golf courses, a burgeoning, active arts community, and growing neighborhoods with exceptional homes to accommodate a range of lifestyles and prices.

These neighborhoods fit snugly within the foothills of the mountains, a protected preserve to remain unsettled forever. Homeowners revel in daily life that presents incomparable views from every perspective, along with incomparable choices in outdoor activities. There are ghost towns and historical museums to explore, vast, wide-open hiking and riding trails among the sage and saguaro, outstanding golf courses to challenge, boating or fishing at nearby Canyon Lake and Apache Lake, driving the wonderfully scenic Apache Trail that leads to Apache Lake and Roosevelt Lake, or luxuriating in the pampering of a resort pool or day-spa.

Gold Canyon’s Arts Council presents regular exhibitions and an annual festival featuring local and regional artists, and shopping is plentiful and easily accessible along U.S. 60. Arizona’s annual Renaissance Festival, held every February and March, enlivens Gold Canyon with music and medieval revelry under the watchful eye of the magnificent mountains.

Life in Gold Canyon is laidback, easy and accented with the electric blue of the infinite Arizona sky, ideal year-round weather that affords time for a wealth of outdoor enjoyment, and the most spectacular crimson-hued sunsets that, daily, give way to a shimmering starry sky above.