Both ends of this drive are scenic, but the nature of that scenery — from Prescott’s small-town charm to Camp Wood’s quiet isolation — couldn’t be more different. You’ll need a reliable vehicle and a three-hour block of time, but that’s a small price to pay for views as varied and breathtaking as any you’ll find in Arizona.
History can be fickle. Long after the last gunfighter was planted on Boot Hill, Tombstone survived to grow into an international tourist attraction. Yet neighboring towns with pasts nearly as colorful have faded into oblivion, leaving behind faint scars on the landscape.
Sheepherders never much liked the Verde River. In spring and fall, they had to swim their flocks across the water, leading them to summer pastures and winter ranges. It was dangerous business, and stray sheep often were lost to the river’s current.
Finally, in 1944, the Flagstaff and Howard sheep companies completed construction of the Verde River Sheep Bridge, minimizing seasonal sheep loss and providing an easier entry to the west side of the Mazatzal wilderness.
It’s hard to believe that Las Cienegas National Conservation Area was, at one time, at risk of becoming a master-planned community and golf course. Instead, the locals rallied, and in 1986, the area came under the protection of the Bureau of Land Management. In 1988, it became part of the National Landscape Conservation System. Today, it’s accessed by a 24-mile drive that’s best described as spectacular.
“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.” So wrote the prolific adventurer and naturalist John Muir. If you’re headed south from Flagstaff and want to prolong your stay in the pines, try West Side Mormon Lake Road (County Road 90). The ponderosas framing this 17-mile, partially paved route to Munds Park may not unlock fantasy worlds such as Narnia, but they will open myriad doorways to the mountains, where the magic of scent, shade and scenery prevails.
The Mogollon Rim. That’s the biggest reason you’ll want to make this drive. Although there are different opinions on how to pronounce the name — Spanish scholars go with “mo-go-yawn,” locals use “muggy-on” — everyone agrees that “the Rim” is impressive.
Arizona has a lot of scenic beauty, but unless you count lakes, streams and the Colorado River on its western border, it lacks a coastline. However, get out of your car at any point along this 38-mile scenic drive on the Mogollon Rim, and you might start to wonder. If you close your eyes, you’ll be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the sound of the wind whooshing through the ponderosas and the sound of waves crashing against some tropical beach.
The Geronimo Trail in Southern Arizona feels as remote as just about any drive in Arizona. But it wasn’t always that way. The route once was a major migration corridor for Apache Indians, as well as Spanish explorers, missionaries, Mormons and Mexican revolutionaries, just to name a few.
The first thing you need to know about this National Scenic Byway — officially known as the Desert to Tall Pines Scenic Road, but informally known as the Young Highway — is that it isn’t a drive you can do before lunchtime. This 74-mile back road, from State Route 260 near Payson to State Route 188 north of Globe, winds through ponderosa pines and grasslands before shifting abruptly to the saguaros of Arizona’s high desert.
A crisp fall morning is the perfect time for this back-roads drive in the White Mountains.
The 44.3-mile loop from McNary to Vernon begins and ends on White Mountain Apache Tribe land near Pinetop-Lakeside. It winds in and out of the Sitgreaves National Forest, through stands of pine and spruce interspersed with groves of aspen that make a spectacular fall display. A historic campground and a small, quiet lake make pleasant diversions along the way.
