Anyone who’s driven on Interstate 17 near Sunset Point this time of year has witnessed the mystery of a scrub tree in the median suddenly decorated with holiday finery. 

Many refer to it as the Mystery Tree.

For more than 30 years, someone has secretly decorated it in the middle of the night. Like magic, the tree suddenly gleams with ornaments to the delight of those who pass.

How does this happen? Who decorates the tree? Why doesn’t anyone see them?

Perhaps no Arizonan has captured this mystery better than Dolan Ellis, Arizona’s official balladeer for more than 50 years. Ellis might look like a rough and tumble cowboy with his hat, boots and guitar, but this baritone sings from the bottom of his soul.

Ellis named the tree Scrubby and commemorates it in a song of the same name, which he performs in this video produced ADOT's video team.

The first verse:

Out in Arizona there’s a story to be told.
Of Scrubby, the little cedar tree that grows beside the road.
I-17 to Flagstaff, from the desert down below,
And a random act of kindness by some secret, caring soul.

It’s the idea that people care enough to bring joy to others that strikes a chord with Ellis, whose own generous spirit spreads across his face as he sings the song, sharing the joy still further.

It brings a smile to every face that passes by that sight.
Scrubby becomes a rock star, and for him this song I write.

The song is one of hundreds Ellis has written since crossing the Arizona state line with his pregnant wife in 1959. During his storied career he has performed before millions of people and won a Grammy Award while a member of the New Christy Minstrels.

He has sung songs for hundreds of thousands of Arizona schoolchildren and been inducted into the AZ Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, among many other career highlights.

He has logged countless miles across Arizona in four-wheel drive vehicles and explored every nook and cranny of culture and climate, guitar always at the ready.

Many of his songs are about Arizona highways and the places and sights that have led him into direct contact with the state, its people and its culture. 

Sights like Scrubby.

Scrubby is a cedar tree and no one knew his name.
Till someone decorated him, and gave him pride and fame.

You can learn more about Ellis, his performance schedule, history and songs at DolanEllis.com. You can also learn about the Arizona Folklore Preserve in Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains, which Ellis founded to preserve songs celebrating Arizona’s western heritage and culture, at ArizonaFolklore.com.   

By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

The Mystery Tree along Interstate 17 has been once again been decorated with red, white and green holiday ornaments. Each year, unidentified elves secretly decorate this juniper in the median north of the Sunset Point Rest Area.

Another mystery surrounds the tree, and that’s how it has survived brush fire after brush fire. The 2011 photo above shows the tree after a fire destroyed nearly all of the vegetation around it. ADOT maintenance crews in the area say each year the tree withstands at least a couple of brush fires.

The ADOT Flickr page has photos of the Mystery Tree from 2014. Notice the holiday decorations are the same year after year!

With hundreds of blog posts in our archives, we understand if you haven’t had a chance to read them all.

However, there’s a lot of interesting content in those early posts and we don’t want you to miss out. That’s why we’re looking back and highlighting some of our favorites in a new series called, “From the Rearview Mirror.”

Originally published on Aug.30, 2011, this post tells about the “mystery tree” that grows next to I-17. You can see new photos of the tree on the ADOT Flickr page.

Mystery surrounds tree near I-17

See more photos of the "mystery tree" on ADOT's Flickr page.

It’s not often that a tree gets wrapped up in a mystery, but a lot of unanswered questions surround one Juniper growing next to I-17.

Some Arizonans might already know about the tree – it’s actually sort of famous around the state. Sitting in the middle of the median, just north of the Sunset Point rest area, around milepost 254, this is the tree that’s secretly decorated around Christmas and the Fourth of July. For years, no one has been able to figure out who is responsible.

Earlier this month something else happened that’s equally puzzling…

On Aug. 3, 2011, the 20-foot high tree survived a brush fire that had already consumed much of the vegetation around it. Flames got so close to the tree that plastic pipes situated near the trunk were melted (the pipes serve as a watering system and were put there presumably by the same people who stealthily decorate the tree each year).

The fire started about 200 feet south of the tree and forced a closure of the highway. But, according to ADOT Highway Operations Supervisor Randy Skinner, the tree, amazingly, was not harmed.

“The fire pretty much just burned up to the tree and burned out,” said Skinner, adding fire departments from Mayer and Black Canyon City responded to the blaze.

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

ADOT employees, who handled traffic control as the fire burned, have seen the tree somehow survive over and over again.

“In the 15 years I’ve been with ADOT, we’ve had fires three or four times a year and the tree never gets touched by the fire,” Skinner said. “For some reason this tree doesn’t burn.”

So, what do you think protects the tree? And, any ideas on who decorates it for the holidays? Leave your theories in the comments or post them over on our Facebook page!

The “mystery tree” on I-17 still has us baffled, so imagine our bewilderment upon seeing these photos of a shoe tree off of State Route 87, south of Payson.

That’s right – there’s a literal shoe tree just sitting alongside the road!

And, our Arizona shoe tree isn’t the only one, at least according to roadsideamerica.com – a site devoted to the oddities found along America’s highways.

There are shoe trees all across the country … who knew?

So, are we the only ones who have never heard of, or seen a shoe tree before? Have you come across the Arizona shoe tree?

This shoe tree is off SR 87, south 
of Payson near milepost 223.

Maybe you’ve thrown a pair of your own sneakers up on those branches?

Let us know in the blog comments or on our Facebook page … and, while you’re at it, tell us about any of your favorite Arizona roadside curiosities.

Editor’s Note: The Arizona Department of Transportation will remove any object within the ADOT right of way that presents a hazard. ADOT reminds drivers that highway shoulders are for emergencies only, and parking on them for any other reason is hazardous.

It’s not often that a tree gets wrapped up in a mystery, but a lot of unanswered questions surround one Juniper growing next to I-17.

Some Arizonans might already know about the tree – it’s actually sort of famous around the state. Sitting in the middle of the median, just north of the Sunset Point rest area, around milepost 254, this is the tree that’s secretly decorated around Christmas and the Fourth of July. For years, no one has been able to figure out who is responsible.

Earlier this month something else happened that’s equally puzzling …

On Aug. 3, the 20-foot high tree survived a brush fire that had already consumed much of the vegetation around it. Flames got so close to the tree that plastic pipes situated near the trunk were melted (the pipes serve as a watering system and were put there presumably by the same people who stealthily decorate the tree each year).

The fire started about 200 feet south of the tree and forced a closure of the highway. But, according to ADOT Highway Operations Supervisor Randy Skinner , the tree, amazingly, was not harmed.

“The fire pretty much just burned up to the tree and burned out,” said Skinner, adding fire departments from Mayer and Black Canyon City responded to the blaze.

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened.

ADOT employees, who handled traffic control as the fire burned, have seen the tree somehow survive over and over again.

“In the 15 years I’ve been with ADOT, we’ve had fires three or four times a year and the tree never gets touched by the fire,” Skinner said. “For some reason this tree doesn’t burn.”

So, what do you think protects the tree? And, any ideas on who decorates it for the holidays? Leave your theories in the comments or post them over on our Facebook page!