Pine Mountain

4.8/5 (4 reviews)
A drive up Pine Mountain unveils the rugged beauty of Arizona's chaparral country. Located in the Tonto National Forest, at 2,873,200 acres, the largest of Arizona's National Forests, the drive offers long views across a vast landscape of rolling hills and deep sycamore-lined canyons carved by smal...Read More
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Highlights of Pine Mountain

Altitude Category IconAltitude
Camping Category IconCamping
Desert Category IconDesert
Forest Category IconForest
Scenic Category IconScenic
Highest Elevation
6135 ft
Shape of Trail
Out & Back
Typically Open
Year Round
Best Direction
N/A
Official Trail Name
201
Nearest Town
Payson
Nearest Services
Payson
Management Agency
Tonto National Forest
District
Tonto Basin Ranger District

Overview

A drive up Pine Mountain unveils the rugged beauty of Arizona's chaparral country. Located in the Tonto National Forest, at 2,873,200 acres, the largest of Arizona's National Forests, the drive offers long views across a vast landscape of rolling hills and deep sycamore-lined canyons carved by small streams fed by runoff from the looming Mazatzal Mountains. The name Mazatzal is difficult to pronounce. Locals often just refer to the Mazatzal Mountains as the Mazzies. The name is attributed to an obscure native language now only spoken in central Mexico. It means "place of the deer." As difficult as the name may be, traversing the Mazzies is infinitely harder. The rugged and nearly impenetrable mountains, encased in the Mazatzal Wilderness Area, form a north/south spine in central Arizona crossed by no roads and very few foot trails. Pine Mountain leads to one of those trails, the famed Arizona Trail, a National Scenic Trail that traverses the entirety of Arizona from Mexico to Utah. Pine Mountain climbs steadily, beginning in the chaparral of grasses, pinion pines, juniper, agave, and prickly pear cactus and ending at the Mount Peely trailhead amongst the tall Ponderosa Pines of Arizona's high country. Mount Peeley, at 7030 feet, towers over the trailhead. Portions of the trail were affected by the 2004 Willow Fire and the 2012 Sunflower Fire. The evidence of regrowth in this area is impressive as nature seeks to heal itself. While you might not be hiking the Arizona Trail, a drive up Pine Mountain reveals much of the rugged and diverse beauty of central Arizona.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Guide Overview
9 Waypoints
29 Trail Photos
1 Trail Concerns
4 Community Reviews
1 Video
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