Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests

Spanning 2.76 million acres along the Mogollon Rim and White Mountains of east-central Arizona, the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests offer some of the state's best high-country recreation with elevations ranging from 3,500 feet in the Sonoran Desert transition zone to 11,421 feet atop Mount Baldy. The forest features over two dozen lakes and reservoirs including Big Lake, Crescent Lake, and Luna Lake, which provide excellent trout fishing in a cool mountain setting that contrasts sharply with Arizona's desert lowlands. Over 1,000 miles of trails traverse the landscape, including the 196-mile General Crook Trail along the Mogollon Rim, a dramatic 200-mile escarpment that marks the boundary between the Colorado Plateau and the basin-and-range country below. The Mount Baldy Wilderness protects the sacred peak of the White Mountain Apache Tribe, while the Bear Wallow and Escudilla wilderness areas preserve remote old-growth spruce-fir forests and pristine headwater streams. The forest is home to reintroduced Mexican gray wolves, Mexican spotted owls, Apache trout -- Arizona's state fish found only in these high-elevation streams -- and large herds of elk that draw hunters each fall. Devastating wildfires including the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski and 2011 Wallow fires, two of the largest in Arizona history, have reshaped portions of the forest and driven major watershed restoration and forest thinning initiatives.