COLOR BY NUMBERS

State routes 188, 288 and 260, U.S. routes 180 and 191, Forest roads 56, 70 and 300, Navajo routes 12, 33 and 64 ... there are any number of numbered roads that'll take you out of the city and into autumn. Take your pick and take your camera. Arizona is bursting with color. It looks great on paper - check out the next 16 pages - but to get a splash of the real thing, you'll want to hop in the car and hit the road.

Terry Flat Loop

Scenic back roads are just a turn signal away in the White Mountains, and the farther east you drive, the more likely you are to have the back road all to yourself. This trip goes to Terry Flat Loop and the Escudilla Wilderness from the mountain village of Alpine.

Situated at an altitude of 8,050 feet, Alpine is surrounded by a forest of ponderosa pines, spruce, fir and aspens. It's a hub of outdoor recreation, including hiking, mountain-biking, horseback-riding, camping, fishing, hunting, birding, wildlife photography and just plain looking.

Begin at the Alpine Ranger Station on the west side of town. From there, travel north on U.S. Route 180/191 for 5.5 miles to its intersection with Forest Road 56 and head eastward. From Hulsey Lake, 2 miles up the road, you'll drive through a dry, overgrown forest of Engelmann spruce, Douglas fir and golden aspens. On the south side of the road, loose talus slopes drop steeply to a narrow draw far below.

From Hulsey's 8,600-foot elevation, you'll gain nearly 1,000 feet in the 2.5 miles to the Escudilla Trailhead. From there, you can take a 6-mile narrow dirt road that loops around Terry Flat clockwise or counterclockwise. Ringed by forest, the rolling meadow holds little islands of bent trees that huddle together against the wind. This time of year, when the aspens are in full color, Escudilla is crowned with gold.

GETTING THERE: From the Alpine Ranger Station, go north on U.S. Route 180/191 for approximately 5.5 miles to Forest Road 56 and turn right. Drive 2 miles on FR 56 to Hulsey Lake, and then continue for another 2.5 miles to a fork. Go left at the fork and drive 0.5 miles to the Escudilla Trailhead. You can continue on Terry Flat Loop clockwise around the meadow, or go back to the fork and take the road counterclockwise. It's a 6-mile loop either way.ACCESSIBILITY: Accessible to all vehicles, but a highclearance vehicle is always recommended on back roads.

INFORMATION: 928-339-5000 or www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf/ recreation

Chinle to Cove

If you look at an old map of the Navajo Nation, the prospects of getting from Chinle to Cove don't look good. Until 1999, there was no convenient way to get through the Lukachukai Mountains. The dirt road that went through the community of Lukachukai northward over the mountains was unpredictable. Then, the Navajos paved the road, and now you can drive it in a car with just a little bit of clearance.From the Canyon de Chelly National Monument visitors center, head northeast on Navajo Route 64, which skirts the north rim of the canyon. "Rim" is just the right word for this strip of land. Visitors can drive to various pullouts that appear perched on the edge of an enormous oblong-shaped bowl. At the bottom of the bowl, the Rio de Chelly, also known as Chinle Wash, has carved a route through massive terracotta walls that were occupied by Ancestral Puebloans for roughly 1,000 years.

A little more than 25 miles from the visitors center, you'll see the orange-and-gold aspen-lined cliffs of the Lukachukai or Chuska Mountains (they blend together in this area) on your right. As you pass through the community of Lukachukai and wind over Buffalo Pass, you enter the heart of Navajo red-rock country, an extraordinarily scenic area dominated by formations of Wingate sandstone that stretches from Rock Point southeast to the vicinity of Cove, which is where you'll be headed once you drive over the pass from Lukachukai. You'll also be treated to stellar views of Shiprock in New Mexico.

GETTING THERE: From the Canyon de Chelly National Monument visitors center in Chinle, travel northeast on Navajo Route 64 for 23 miles to its junction with Navajo Route 12. Turn left onto NR 12 and drive for 7 miles to Navajo Route 13. Turn right onto NR 13 and continue through Lukachukai to Red Rock. From the Red Rock Trading Post, continue north on NR 13 to Navajo Route 33 and turn left. Continue on NR 33 for 10 miles to Cove.

ACCESSIBILITY: Accessible to all vehicles, but a high-clearance vehicle is always recommended on back roads.

INFORMATION: 928-674-5500 or www.nps.gov/cach

Forest Road 300

After the Grand Canyon, the Mogollon Rim is the most strik-ing geological feature in Arizona. Measured in thousands of feet and hundreds of miles, it begins near the New Mexico border and stretches diagonally across the eastern half of the state. Through the lens of a camera, binoculars or your own baby blues, the views from the Rim are unbelievable, uninterrupted and unsurpassed.

Going from east to west, Forest Road 300, which is a well-graded gravel road, is suitable for everything from a Prius to a conversion van. It kicks off near Woods Canyon Lake and winds along the Rim past the turn-offs to Bear Canyon Lake, Knoll Lake and several other small lakes, before striking pavement at State Route 87, just north of Strawberry. Sometimes referred to as the General Crook Trail, the road was a tactical military supply route surveyed by the famed commander in 1871 during his campaign against the Apaches. Along the way, you'll encounter Gentry Lookout, a Forest Service fire tower. If it's open, you might be able to climb to the stoop for some stunning views. To the north is the sinuous green body of Black Canyon Lake; west is Baker Butte, the highest point on the Rim; southwest you can see Four Peaks, a guardian of metropolitan Phoenix; south lies the vast Fort Apache Reservation; and beyond it is the summit spire of Mount Turnbull on the San Carlos Apache Nation.

GETTING THERE: From Payson, drive east on State Route 260 past Kohl's Ranch to where the road tops out on the Mogollon Rim. Turn left toward Woods Canyon Lake and continue for about a mile to Forest Road 300.

ACCESSIBILITY: Accessible to all vehicles, but a high-clearance vehicle is always recommended on back roads.

INFORMATION: 928-477-2255 or www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino; 928333-4301 or www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf

Box Canyon Road

The Santa Rita Mountains are a birder's paradise, thanks to Madera Canyon, a major attraction for migrating species. Although Madera gets most of the attention in the region, its little brother, Box Canyon, is worthy of a little love as well. You'll get there via Box Canyon Road, a graveled route that heads east off the road to Madera Canyon. It meanders through the grassy Santa Rita Experimental Range to the Coronado National Forest boundary, where it crosses Little Box Canyon Creek and begins climbing into the Santa Ritas. Although the forest there isn't dense - because the mountains are low, they're covered with expanses of grass instead - you will get glimpses into Box Canyon on your left. The gorge is loaded with cottonwoods and sycamores, which make for a color explosion come autumn.

The narrow, winding road climaxes in an area of broad pastures, where views of the Mustang, Whetstone and Huachuca mountains abound. From there, it's possible to wind to the road's junction with State Route 83, just north of Sonoita, or turn south to visit what's left of Kentucky Camp, an early 20th century gold-mining hub. GETTING THERE: From Tucson, travel south on Interstate 19 to the Continental Road Exit (63) at Green Valley. Leave the interstate and travel 1 mile east to Whitehouse Canyon Road (Forest Road 62), where signs point to Madera Canyon. Follow FR 62 to the Madera Canyon/Forest Road 70 turnoff. Turn east onto the dirt portion of FR 62 and travel east through Box Canyon to State Route 83, a few miles north of Sonoita.

ACCESSIBILITY: Accessible to all vehicles, but a high-clearance vehicle is always recommended on back roads.

INFORMATION: 520-281-2296 or www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/ recreation