Fodor's Expert Review Pinery Butterfield Stage Station Ruins

In the mid-1800s passengers en route from St. Louis to California on the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route stopped here for rest and refreshment. At more than a mile in elevation, the station was the highest on the journey, but it operated for only about a year. The ruins provide a peek into the past: the bare remains of a few buildings with rock walls (but no roofs) layered on the desert floor. Do not touch. You can drive here from U.S. 62/180, but it's more interesting to stroll over via the paved ¾-mile round-trip natural trail from the visitor center.