Art, views en route to Alamo Lake

Alamo Lake is well known to bass anglers. Its scrub-lined shores can hide lunkers, and there are plenty of people who make the trip to catch them. It’s also the site of a swell state park.

Mountains surround the lake, some with names that summon images of riding in the Old West — Buckskin, Rawhide, Poachie. You can see them by riding the horses of the New West — Ford, Chevy, Toyota.

To get to Alamo Lake, take the 33-mile stretch of Alamo Road out of Wenden. Shortly after you leave U.S. 60, the road climbs as you go over Cunningham Pass in the Harcuvar range. After that, you’ll be surrounded by wider views and flatter roads. Alamo Road does not stop there. It turns east after it reaches the lake, first as a straight, well-graded road, then as a rutted, sandy, rocky, twisting road.

Here are three places to check out along the way.

Desert Caballeros Western Museum:

As one might expect, cowboy culture and cowboy art are well represented in this Wickenburg gem. Works by Albert Bierstadt, Charles Russell, Frederic Remington and other artistic heavyweights will jingle the spurs of even the most citified visitor. Plenty of Western memorabilia accompanies the art, as well as historical dioramas and Native American artifacts. Yet, the period rooms and re-created street scene of turn-of-the-century Arizona leave the most lasting impression. Get a taste of hardscrabble life through detailed exhibits that include a saloon, livery stable and general store.

10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, noon-4 p.m. Sundays. $7-$9, free for age 16 and younger. 21 N. Frontier St. 928-684-2272, www.westernmuseum.org.

Details:

Leaving Wenden, you come over the Harcuvar Mountains and enter this scenic valley rimmed by mountain ranges. The road is mostly straight and flat, but if you’re the driver, resist the temptation to check the map to

Butler Valley: