Buckhorn Wildlife Museum

In 1939 Ted and Alice Sliger established the baths unknowing that their efforts to make a living of the natural mineral waters would help to establish the East Salt River Valley as a mecca for spring training. In 1947, the New York Giants made the Buckhorn Baths their spring training home and continued to do so for over twenty-five years. Willie Mays, Ty Cobb, Gaylord Perry, Leo Durocher and others were regulars at the Baths. The Sligers established a post office, bus stop, water hole, museum, and motel, which they operated for over sixty-five years. Also known as the Buckhorn Mineral Wells and Wildlife Museum, the latter moniker due to an immense taxidermy collection, the baths have been closed for years. Ted has passed away and Alice is a century old. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Hope springs eternal at the Buckhorn Mineral Baths, Motel and Wildlife Museum in East Mesa.The roadside motel has been closed since 1999, but everything is in place as if owners Ted and Alice Sliger slipped out for a desert dip. Letters are unopened in the mail slots behind the motel’s front desk. A ribbon of pink neon still glistens on the outside of the motel.

Baseball’s New York Giants discovered the Buckhorn Baths in 1947, and players made the 15-acre resort a spring training stop until 1972.Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Gaylord Perry and Ty Cobb were regulars at the baths. So was Ernie “Mr. Cub” Banks, who still believes the restorative powers of the baths helped him hit 15 home runs during one spring training.The Buckhorn Baths gave birth to spring training in Arizona.The Sligers bought the promised land in 1936 and opened the baths in 1939, tapping into the mineral waters of the East Salt River Valley. It operated under the same owners for 63 years. The business opened in 1926 as a gas station and general store on U.S. Highway 60, 
a k a The Apache Trail.

Even though the ground is riddled with sinkholes and is guarded by security, we aren't suggesting you try your luck and visit anyways ;)