Forest Adventures

BY: Sarah Jenson

12 Unique Family Adventures

Arizona's forests contain some of the best trails and scenic spots in the world, but these wooded wonderlands cry out for more than just walking and gawking. Here are 12 ways to turn your national forest experience into a bona fide adventure. To check on possible fire danger, call your destination forest listed below. By JoBeth Jamison

APACHE-SITGREAVES NATIONAL FORESTS Tee-off in the Timbers

What golf course actually encourages you to aim for the trees? The Wood Land Disc Golf Course in PinetopLakeside does. Disc golf is like regular golf, only the "ball" is a Frisbee, the "club" is your body and the "hole" is an elevated basket. This environmentally friendly sport is becoming wildly popular and with good reason. It can be as casual or as competitive as you want to make it, it's open to all disc-flinging ages and it can make for an exceptionally fun time in the pines. Best of all, you get to use your arms and legs to play the sport, not pay for the sport.

Nineteen holes in a lush, alpine setting all for the price of a piece of plastic? Priceless. Information: (928) 368-6700; www.wmonline.com/discgolf/.

Take a Fly-fishing Tour

This is for those of you who have ever read the fishing reports and gone, giddy with anticipation, to a distant hooking hotspot only to get there and find that everyone else in the state has done exactly the same. The ApacheSitgreaves National Forests is home to more than 450 miles of streams and almost 2,000 surface acres of coldwater lakes, perfect for casting and catching everything from arctic grayling to brook and rainbow trout. There's no need to pick one, overpopulated place or to spend your precious angling time guessing where to go. Take a customized fly-fishing tour with expert instructors and area guides through the lesser-known waters of the White Mountains. Information: Troutback Fly Fishing Guide Service, toll-free (800) 903-4092; www.troutback.com.

COCONINO NATIONAL FOREST Surf a Volcano

The snow-capped San Francisco Peaks reach heights of 12,633 feet, but that doesn't mean you can't 'Hang Ten' on this extinct volcano almost year-round. From December to March, catch the frozen waves of winter weather by board, by ski, by shoe or by sled. From May to October, drop those toes off Arizona Snowbowl's Scenic Skyride as you glide up the face of Humphreys Peak for views so vast, you'll think you can see the ocean. Information: (928) 779-1951; www.arizonasnowbowl.com.

Ride the Red Rocks

You don't have to haul your mountain bike to Moab for curvaceous slick rock "carving." Take it from Arizona's legendary mountain-biking lead man,Cosmic Ray, whose Fat Tire Tales and Trails is one of the state's bestselling guidebooks. Whether you're hankering for a smooth sailing "Betty" ride or a high-flying, over-the-handlebar "shred," the Sedona area is a veritable vortex of "primo" rated red rock trails. Be sure to save some of your breath for the views. (Cosmic Ray's brazen, but top-rated Fat Tire book can be found in Arizona bookstores and online. Ray recommends the moderately challenging Submarine Loop). Information: (928) 527-3600; www.mtbr.com.

CORONADO NATIONAL FOREST Bird the Sky Islands

Think of the Coronado National Forest as Club Med for our fine-feathered friends. Sky islands, where mountains rise above the hot lowland deserts, provide remarkably diverse ecosystems filled with flora and fauna not found together anywhere else in the state. Cave Creek in the Chiricahuas is one of many ecological sweet spots in the area. It's also where some of the most rare and beautiful bird species congregate throughout the seasons for a little southeastern R&R. Do yousuppose they're people-watching? Information: (520) 364-3468; www.sabo.org.

Oak Creek Canyon, Coconino National Forest. DUGALD BREMNER Scale the Cochise Stronghold

It seems a fitting tribute that the place where the Chiricahua Apache Chief Cochise spent many years successfully defying the military is the same place where people now go to defy mortality. A favorite spot for rock climbers, these granite domes and boulders in the Dragoon Mountains are chock-full of smooth faces and vertical hiding places, as Cochise aptly demonstrated. Information: (520) 3643468; www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/ forest/recreation/rock_climbing/rocks. shtml; www.rockclimbing.com/routes/ listArea.php?AreaID=400.

KAIBAB NATIONAL FOREST Giddyap and Get Along to the North Rim

Take in the fall foliage, savor the sweeping views and dodge deer on the high, cool drive to the Grand Canyon's North Rim. Once you've recovered your wits from getting slapped by the view, you can get the Kaibab Lodge to organize custom horseback adventures through the plateau's four forest layers with longtime area guide Jeff Allen. Arrange pack trips lasting hours or days for parties of three or more. Information: (928) 638-2389; www. kaibablodge.com.

Helicopter the Grand Canyon

Gravity, schmavity. Why walk when you can fly? Tower over the treetops of the Kaibab National Forest and get the ultimate glimpse of the Grand Canyon as you hover, swoop and soar through its nooks and narrows in a state-ofthe-art helicopter. Sound risky? Only if you eat lunch before the flight. Information: Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, toll-free, (800) 528-2418; www.papillon.com.

PRESCOTT NATIONAL FOREST Train With the Eagles

Sorry football fans, we mean an actual train and actual birds. The locomotives of the Verde Canyon Railroad are the only motorized mode of transportation allowed passage through Verde Canyon, where bald eagles are known to nest and soar. The four-hour journey between Clarkdale and Perkinsville allows For a wealth of wildlife watching. To spy nature by night, take the dusk-departing Starlight Train. If human nature is more your interest, imbibe in a romantic wine-tasting tour on the Grape Train Escape. Information: Toll-free, (800) 3200718; www.verdecanyonrr.com.

Pan for Gold at Lynx Creek

You don't need a burro, a white beard or a red bandanna to be an Arizona prospector, just a pan, a pickax and maybe a metal detector. The Prescott National Forest actually recognizes panning for gold as a legitimate recreational activity at the Lynx Creek Mineral Withdrawal Area. Just remember who told you about it if you happen to strike it rich. Information: (928) 443-8000; www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott/recreation/ propect.shtml.

TONTO NATIONAL FOREST Paddle the Salt

No man-made resort moat can compare with the stunning beauty of the Superstition Mountains as seen from the river. Flowing through the southwestern portion of the Tonto National Forest, the dam-controlled lower Salt River is ideal for navigating subtle rapids in a raft or kayak and for spying wildlife along the way, such as great blue herons, radiant redwinged blackbirds and wild horses. With its proximity to city sprawl, the Salt is easily accessible but remote enough to make you feel like you've escaped the rat race, if only for a few hours. Guided trips make the perfect half-day getaway for any local or area visitor over age 4. Information: Desert Voyagers, (480) 998-RAFT (7238); www.desertvoyagers.com.

Drive the Apache Trail

This designated National Scenic Byway (also known as State Route 88) and the surrounding area is not only pretty, it is a Pandora's box of mystery, history and folklore. Making the approximately 37-mile trip from Apache Junction to Theodore Roosevelt Dam gives you an opportunity to search for lost gold; sit on a saddle-shaped barstool; stop and smell desert wildflowers; see Salado cliff dwellings or what once was the world's highest masonry dam; and soak in a series of man-made lakes-all in one (very busy) day. Information: (480) 610-3300; www.arizonahandbook.com/ apache.htm.

Bob Kerry climbs an uncommon ice flow in the Santa Catalina Mountains in the Coronado National Forest. PETER NOEBELS