The Lost Dutchman mine is bogus. Someone who knows a bare minimum about prospecting looks for gold where there are veins of quartz. And the Superstitions have those.
But otherwise, the Superstitions are completely wrong for gold mining.
Another false lead in the area is Weaver’s needle, a volcanic tower that was the core or a now eroded volcano. Fools prospect around its base, and find nothing, but were they to go further away, and locate its volcanic “skirt”, where the volcanic rock greets the metamorphic or sedimentary rock, there *might* be some gold, but only at depth, not on the surface.
In my 50’s (the first trip to Alaska) I wanted to find an old prospector with a mule and grubstake him for 3 months and the both of us will go gold mining, just working the streams in Alaska and you can find gold. Talked to a couple of permanent residents that go out every week end looking for gold...they find enought to keep them going back...that would be a great vacation...
If you study the legend hard enough, you come to the conclusion that the “mine” is a Mexican legend of hidden treasure.
You are correct that the crystal outcropping is not present.