As the cooler months are rolling in and the summer heat is coming to an end, so does the calmness in the city of Apache Junction. Year round residents are preparing for the flock of snowbirds to fly back to their southwestern nests, bringing an uptick of business, traffic and life along with them. 
 
Snowbirds are defined as elderly individuals who temporarily escape the frigid temperatures of the North. These winter visitors are very common in places such as Florida, Texas, and Arizona. Popular hometowns of these visitors are in Canada, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, and Washington State. 
 
The city of Apache Junction is no stranger to these winter visitors, as it ranks 5th in the country for snowbird destinations. The city has a variety of accommodations and activities that are popular to these returning visitors. Apache Junction is home to two golf courses, and an additional 33 courses in a 20-mile radius of the city. AJ has favorable weather conditions during the winter months, with a median high temperature of 72° F. With this favorable weather are touristic activities such as the visiting the Lost Dutchman Museum, Goldfield Ghost town and Canyon lake. Canyon lake offers ferry rides and fishing for the visitors.
 
Apache Junction heavily relies on tourism. The city has been mining the personal legend of the Lost Dutchman since its beginning. Locations like the Lost Dutchman Museum tell this legend of the Superstitions Mountains. Many of the city’s restaurants have themes related to the Lost Dutchman mystery, or have outright incorporated Lost Dutchman into their names to draw visitors. 

 
The lore of the Lost Dutchman is very entangled with the roots of the city. The most famous aspect of the legend is the Lost Dutchman treasure that is said to be hidden within the Superstition mountains. The legend is a man named Peralta had struck gold in the mountains, when suddenly he was allegedly attacked by Indians. He survived the attack and hid the gold somewhere in the mountains. He told one man named Jacob Waltz, who is known as the Lost Dutchman, the location of the treasure. Waltz supposedly murdered Peralta, and became the only person to know the location of this treasure. Many people come to these mountains looking for the treasure, and every time that person comes home empty-handed.
 
The Ghost Goldmine is the most popular tourist destination in Apache Junction. Events are held in the town, such as cowboy gunfights and tours that bring you within the depths of an old gold mine in Apache Junction. A popular restaurant in the ghost town is the mammoth saloon, which sees a massive influx in business during the winter months. Winter visitors should expect a packed restaurant that is flooded with tourists visiting the ghost town.

 
“Yeah, we lose money three months. June, July, and August. We break even or make little money in May. September October. We make great profit. Great money. November, December. January, February, March, and April. Bottom line.” Cowboy Dan Knozl, owner of the Mammoth Saloon said.
 
During the summer months, Apache Junction, has a population of 40,173. When the snowbirds arrive, this number is nearly doubled to just under 75,000. This growth in population brings a huge economic boost in the city’s housing market. The investment Apache Junction has in housing is split up in four ways, with the largest stock being 48% in mobile homes and RV parks. AJ is home to 125 mobile home parks, owners of these parks reported that 80% of the occupants of the parks are winter visitors. 
 
“350 trailer and RV’s, when we’re full that's what here… like 20 people live here year round” Bill Knollinger, resident and employee of Golden Sun RV Resort. 
 
This massive increase in population comes with some negative effects. One of the major ones being traffic in the city. A usual calm road setting with a neutral amount of traffic experiences a boom that results in congestion on the roads. Roads such as Apache Trail Road receives approximately 12,500 cars on the average weekday. The normal amount of traffic on this road in the summer is usually 7000. This uptick is a popular complaint for the year-round residents of the city. 
 
They cause a lot of, they're just a burden when it comes to them rolling around. Like everything's just so peaceful, and then they come around, and they just ruin everyone's flow… It depends on timing too, because we only got two lanes over here in Apache Junction, and when they match with a truck that's going even slower than they are, it kind of sucks.” Benjamin Bailon, resident of Apache Junction, said. 
 
Snowbirds are important to the growth of Apache Junction, and important to the growth of the state of Arizona. These visitors contribute to $1.4 Billion to the state's economy. This money is used to help solve the problems plaguing the state. In Apache Junction specifically, the money the snowbirds bring in is being put to fight the homeless problem.