Bureau of Land Management

Arizona State Office
One North Central Avenue
Suite 800
Phoenix, AZ 85004-4427
Phone:(602) 417-9200
http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en.html

A good resource for maps and GIS data.

United States Forest Service National Forests in Arizona:

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest (928) 333-4301

P.O. Box 640
Springerville, AZ 85938
TTY: (928) 333-6292
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf/

Ranger District Offices in Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest

Alpine Ranger District
P.O. Box 469 Alpine, AZ 85920
Voice: (928) 339-5000
TTY: (928) 339-4566

Black Mesa Ranger Districts
P.O. Box 968 Overgaard, AZ 85933
Voice: (928) 535-7300
TTY: (928) 535-3213

Clifton Ranger District
397240 AZ 75, Duncan, AZ 85534
Voice: (928) 687-8600
TTY: (928) 687-1807

Lakeside Ranger District
2022 W White Mtn. Bl. Lakeside, AZ 85929
Voice: (928) 368-2100
TTY: (928) 368-5088

Springerville Ranger District
P.O. Box 760 Springerville, AZ 85938
Voice: (928) 333-6200
TTY: (928) 333-5397

Coconino National Forest 928-527-3600

1824 S. Thompson St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/

Ranger District Offices in Coconino National Forest:

Peaks/Mormon Lake Ranger Districts
5075 N. Highway 89
Flagstaff, AZ 86004
(928) 526-0866, FAX 527-8288

Red Rock Ranger District and Visitor Contact Center
8375 State Route 179, Sedona, Arizona
(Just south of the Village of Oak Creek)
(928) 203-7500 or (928) 203-2900, FAX (928) 203-7539

Mogollon Rim Ranger District
HC 31, Box 300
Happy Jack, AZ 86024
Blue Ridge Office: (928) 477-2255, FAX (928) 527-8282

Coronado National Forest (520) 388-8300

300 W. Congress Street
Tucson, AZ, USA 85701
(520) 388-8304 TTY
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/

Ranger District Offices in Coronado National Forest

Nogales Ranger District
Keith Graves, District Ranger
303 Old Tucson Rd.
Nogales, AZ 85621
(520) 281-2296
(520) 281-2396 FAX

Douglas Ranger District
Bill Edwards, District Ranger
1192 West Saddleview Road
Douglas, AZ 85607
(520) 364-3468
(520) 364-6667 FAX

Safford Ranger District
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/forest/districts/safford.shtml
Toni Strauss, District Ranger
711 14th Avenue, Suite D
Safford, AZ 85546
(928) 428-4150
(928) 428-2393 FAX

Sierra Vista Ranger District
Annette Chavez, District Ranger
5990 S. Hwy. 92
Hereford, AZ 85615
(520) 378-0311
(520) 378-0519 FAX

Santa Catalina Ranger District
Stan Helin, District Ranger
5700 N. Sabino Canyon Rd
Tucson, AZ 85750
(520) 749-8700
(520) 749-7723 FAX

Kaibab National Forest (928) 635-8200

800 South Sixth Street
Williams, AZ 86046
Fax: (928) 635-8208
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/kai/

Ranger District Offices in Kaibab National Forest

North Kaibab Ranger District
430 South Main Street
PO Box 248
Fredonia, Arizona 86022
Telephone: 928-643-7395

Tusayan Ranger District
Physical Address:
176 Lincoln Log Loop
Grand Canyon, AZ 86023
Telephone: 928-638-2443

Williams Ranger District
742 South Clover Road
Williams, Arizona 86046
Telephone: 928-635-5600

Prescott National Forest (928) 443-8000

344 So. Cortez St.
Prescott, AZ 86303
TTY (928) 443-8001
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/prescott/

Ranger District Offices in Prescott National Forest

Bradshaw Ranger District
344 S Cortez St
Prescott AZ 86303
(928) 443-8000
(928) 443-8001 TTY

Chino Valley Ranger District
735 N Hwy 89
Chino Valley, AZ 86323
(928) 777-2200
(928) 443-8001 TTY

Verde Ranger District
7780 East Beaver Creek Ranger Station Road
Rimrock, AZ 86335
(928) 567-4121
(928) 443-8001 TTY

Tonto National Forest (602) 225-5200

2324 E. McDowell Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85006
fax: (602) 225-5295
http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/tonto/home.shtml

Ranger District Offices in Tonto National Forest

Cave Creek Ranger District
40202 North Cave Creek Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85262
Phone: (480) 595-3300
Fax: (480) 595-3346

Globe Ranger District
7680 S. Six Shooter
Canyon Rd.
Globe, Arizona 85501
Phone: (928) 402-6200
Fax: (928) 402-6292

Mesa Ranger District
5140 E. Ingram St.
Mesa, Arizona 85205
Phone: (480) 610-3300
Fax: (480) 610-3346

Payson Ranger District
1009 E. Highway 260
Payson, Arizona 85541
Phone: (928) 474-7900
Fax: (928) 474-7966

Pleasant Valley Ranger District
P.O. Box 450
Forest Road 63
Young, Arizona 85554
Phone: (928) 462-4300
Fax: (928) 462-4346

Tonto Basin Ranger District
28079 N. Az Highway 188
Roosevelt, Arizona 85545
Phone: (928) 467-3200
Fax: (928) 467-3239

Tags: Arizona, BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Camp grounds, Camping, Forest, Forest Service, Globe Arizona, hiking, National Forest Service, payson arizona, strawberry arizona

entrance to Zion

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About once a year, we try to go on a longer family trip.  This year we picked Zion National Park in Utah.  We rented an RV from Arizona Kachina RV in Phoenix.  The RV rental experience was great!  The owner of Kachina RV was very thorough at explaining everything we needed to know about operating the RV.  I think the kids loved the RV more than the scenery!

We traveled North up I-17 to Flagstaff and then continued North to Page (Lake Powell).  From Lake Powell, we drove West to Kanab and then North again to Mt. Carmel Junction.  At Mt. Carmel Junction, we turned West on I-9 and that leads into the East entrance into Zion National Park

Important information about RV’s or large vehicles.

If you are driving an RV or an over sized vehicle or towing a trailer, you must be escorted through the Zion National Park tunnel – if you use the East entrance to get in.  It really isn’t a big deal, every car gets escorted through, you just have to pay extra if you are driving a large vehicle or RV when you pay the entrance fee.  Also, the escort through the tunnel only runs during the day and evening.  This means that you should not plan on entering the Park at night from the East entrance if you are driving an RV or large vehicle.  We had to take this into consideration because we left Phoenix at around 6 p.m. – meaning we didn’t get to Mt. Carmel Junction until about 1 a.m.  So, we could not continue on into Zion National Park, we had to park the RV and wait until the next morning.  We stayed at the East Zion Riverside RV Park – it was nicely equipped with power and water hook-ups and the people at the Motel were very nice!  Note, you don’t need to worry about the tunnel if you are entering the Park from the west entrance (through Rockville & Springdale).

I suggest either entering or exiting the park through the East entrance.  The East entrance is about 1500 feet higher in elevation than the bottom of the Zion National Park canyon.  It reminded me a lot of the “slick rock” that you find in Moab, Utah.  It is breathtaking when you come out of the longest tunnel and you see the canyon laid out before you.  The drive down from the East entrance is on a somewhat windy road, but wow, the scenery as you descend is amazing.

National Park Service South Campground

We stayed at the National Park Service South Campground.  It had plenty of RV spaces.  It does not have water or power hookups and you can only run the generator for two hours in the morning and two hours at night.  These restrictions did not really hamper our visit – we were out hiking during the day anyway! We also enjoyed building a fire every night and making smores.  Bring firewood with you if you are camping, you aren’t allowed to gather dry wood in the campground.  Sol Foods has firewood you can purchase if you forget to bring some, but it can get expensive if you want to build a fire every night.

From the South Campground it is a short walk to the main Visitors Center, where you catch the buses that take you into the park and to all of the hiking stops.  Also, whenever you want to go into Springdale, the nearest town, you can walk a little past the Visitors Center and find the bus terminal for the buses that take you into town.  All of the buses are free.  The nicest thing about this trip was how easy it was to get around without having a vehicle (we didn’t want to take the RV all over the place).  You can also find the Sol Foods grocery store right next to the Town bus depot – a very convenient walk from the Campground to the grocery store came in handy more than a few times.

Springdale

We really enjoyed going into Springdale every day after we got done hiking.  I’ve included some links about our favorite places in Springdale.  All of the people working at the local businesses were friendly, welcoming and informative.  The owner of Zion Cycles spent a good amount of time talking to my son about different things he could do to customize his BMX bike – very nice.   Zion Cycles

Another one of our favorite places was the Zion Park Gift and Deli.  Yummy ice cream, amazing homemade fudge and a nice gift store all in the same place.  We happened to be there on my sons birthday and the teenage girls who worked in the ice cream part of the store went out of their way to wish him a happy birthday – they even sang to him – which made him blush like crazy, but it was very cute.  Zion Park Gift and Deli

On our first evening in the park, after hiking to Emerald Pools and exploring the area around the RV park, we ate at the Zion Pizza and Noodle Company.  We had heard about this place before we even left Phoenix.  Delicious pizza and pasta!  Luckily, we got there early in the evening around 5 p.m. – it got crazy busy by 5:30 – so get there early.

We went to many other stores around the town and found friendly people in all of them – you will love Springdale!

Springdale Candy Company

Sol Foods

Hiking in Zion National Park

There are too many hiking trails for me to tell you about them all.  My suggestion is to plan out what hikes you will complete for each day.  Don’t get too ambitious.  We only made it to Emerald Pools (all three) on the first day.  That was probably because we had two children with us, one of whom seems to have an appetite like a hummingbird (high metabolism, has to eat the equivalent of her body weight every day).  So after hearing the “I’mmmm hungrryy” complaint all the way back from the hike, we decided to cut our losses and head back to the RV and on to town for dinner).

The next day we made it to Riverside hike, Weeping Rock and the Watchman trail.  We took food with us this time, so as not to have a repeat complaining session from our little hummingbird.  On the hike up to Weeping Rock, there is another path you can take to Hidden Canyon.  We really wanted to do this hike, but it is a steep climb and we didn’t think it was prudent to attempt with our kids in tow.  They just get tired too easily (and at inopportune times).  We ate lunch at the Zion Lodge on this day.  Hot dogs for everyone.  The line for food at the Zion Lodge was very long.  So if you can – I suggest taking your lunch with you and eating on the grass outside of the Lodge – beautiful views.

On our last full day at the Park, we attempted Angels Landing. I had already decided that we weren’t going to complete this entire hike.  The last part of this hike takes you out on a narrow ledge where there are sheer drop-offs on both sides of you.    http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-angels-landing-trail.htm

Even if I could have summoned the nerve to do the last part of this hike myself – I couldn’t stomach the thought of my kids attempting it – so we just decided to go up to a certain point and turn around.   Even with that restriction, this was still a beautiful hike.  Once we got past the switchbacks, the view from the top was – WOW.  A storm moved in when we were hiking Angels Landing and I got some great pics of the storm and clouds from the top of the switchbacks.  Here another warning – if it looks like rain – bring ponchos with you on your hike.  We only had two ponchos so two of us got soaked to the bone.

I’ve included several links below to sites where you can learn more about Zion and the different hikes you can do.  There were so many more that we didn’t have time to get to.  I would highly recommend this trip – my family and I are still talking about how much fun we had.

Please drop me a line if you have any thoughts you would like to share about Zion or any questions about the area I might be able to answer.

Map of Zion National Park and surrounding area

Maps of Zion National Park

Zion National Park campgrounds

Tags: Camping, hiking, RV, Springdale, Utah, Virgin River, Zion National Park

If you happen to come across this blog and you are an Arizona traveler – I would love your help.  I need you to post some comments about a place you have been in (or near) Arizona and what you loved about it.  I need a list of ideas so that I can get to some new places, instead of just going back to the same old ones again and again.  Or, if you have a place that you want to go to and are wondering about  – I might have been there, so drop me a question or two and I’ll see if I can help.  If I haven’t been there, maybe I’ll put it on my list.  Here is a preemptive Thank you to anyone who drops a line.

Tags: Arizona, Arizona towns, day trip, driving, explore, Globe Arizona, Globe-Miami, payson arizona, Phoenix, road trip, strawberry arizona

Roadtrip from Phoenix to Globe-Miami, Arizona

To get to Globe from the Phoenix area, you need to find Hwy. 60.  Get on to Hwy. 60 and head West.  You will pass through Mesa, Apache Junction, Gold Canyon, Florence Junction, Superior and Top of the World before you get to Miami and then Globe.

Just before you get to Superior, you will see Picketpost Mountain.  At the base of this mountain is the Boyce Thompson Arboretum – a beautiful place to visit (when it’s cooler outside).  The area at the base of Picketpost Mountain is also where Apache Tears come from.  What are Apache Tears?

Superior

Superior is also an old copper mining town.  Old downtown Superior is kind of interesting, in a ghost town sort of way.  When the new Hwy. 60 was constructed (a long time ago), they by-passed downtown Superior – which used to be right on the main highway to Phoenix.  Once that happened, the downtown businesses failed pretty quickly and now its just lots of old buildings and ruins of buildings.

Here are some pics from downtown Superior

[View with PicLens]

After you leave Superior, you will drive through some beautiful mountains where there are sometimes waterfalls (after a good rain).  About 20 minutes after Superior, you pass through Top of the World, a very small town.  After you leave Top of the World, look off to your right and you will see some large open pit mines – kind of neat looking, though not very environmentally friendly.  What is Open Pit Mining?

[View with PicLens]

Miami

Next is Miami.  Downtown Miami suffered the same fate as downtown Superior when Hwy 60 bypassed the main road through downtown.  But downtown Miami has fared a bit better than Old Town Superior has.  There are a lot of very good antique stores in downtown Miami now and a few of the buildings have been nicely renovated.  It still could use some work, but it is an interesting place to visit.

[View with PicLens]

Globe

Downtown Globe has also seen better days, during the boom-times of copper mining.  There are a good many empty store fronts in Globe now.  But, there are still quite a few nice places to visit in downtown Globe.  A great candy/fudge shop, lots of antique stores and a nice clothing store called Simply Sarah – to name a few.

My favorite Mexican food place is in downtown Globe – La Casita.  At the end of downtown Globe is where you will find the renovated Train Depot.

Also, the old Globe Theater burned down a couple of years ago (sad, it was a cool historic theatre) – but the owner, Bobby Hollis, has just finished building a nice new theater where the old one used to sit.

There are so many places to visit in the Globe area.  The Historical Society runs a historical home tour, there are many historical homes that have been well preserved.  There are also mine tours available.  The Nofsger Hill B & B is pretty neat – I went to 4th grade at Nofsger Hill, it was the last year it was open.

[View with PicLens]

Old Dominion Mine

The Old Dominion Mine is an interesting story.  Ore is no longer mined there, it is used for the other mines water supply now.  During operation in the early 1900’s, the miners hit an underground river.  They were able to keep the mine operational with pumps for a while, but I guess that became too expensive or the ore vein ran out (a combo of both probably).  So now, the mines just pump the water out of the Old Dominion for use in the other mining operations at other locations.  My grandfather used to work for the mines and I have been up to the old vertical shaft at the Old Dominion Mine – if you stand on the lift, over the shaft, you can hear the underground river running hundreds of feet below you – it was very cool thing to experience when I was a “young-un.”

[View with PicLens]

When I find links and stories about stuff to do in and around Globe, I’ll post it on my blog/link roll.  Also, don’t forget – there is always the Casino when you run out of other stuff to do (Apache Gold Casino).  Be careful, don’t gamble it all away – you need to save that money for your next road trip!

Here’s a great link for information about the Globe-Miami area – also has local events.  Thanks Linda for sending this to me!

http://www.gmteconnect.com/

Tags: Antique, apache tears, Arizona, Arizona Copper Mines, arizona day trip, community, day trip, enjoy globe arizona, Globe, globe arizona pictures, Globe Arizona Road Trip, Globe-Miami, information, Mexican Food, Miami, Miami Arizona, mining, Old Dominion Mine, picketpost mountain, retirement, roosevelt lake, salt river canyon, Superior, Superior copper mines, things to do in globe arizona, town, travel, trip to globe arizona, trip to miami arizona, vacation, visit

I am in Globe-Miami this weekend.  I can’t really call this a roadtrip since this is my hometown.  I’m up here visiting my Mom and Grandpa.  But, since there are some cool things to see I’m going to blog about it in case anyone ever wants to visit.  This place has some interesting history also.  My next post will include pics from my trip.

In my humble opinion, Globe- Miami has the best mexican food in Arizona!  My favorite restaurants in Globe are Chalo’s Casa Reynoso on Hwy 60 a.k.a Ash Street; and La Casita on Broad Street in downtown Globe.  But, there are other restaurants that are nearly just as good:  Libby’s El Rey, Casa Reynoso in Miami, Guayo’s, La Casita East.

http://www.chalos.com/

http://www.urbanspoon.com/nf/76/42155/7523/Arizona/Globe-AZ/Mexican-Restaurants

Here are some good links to read about the area history – I find it fascinating but that’s probably because I grew up here.

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8352/globe.htm

http://www.westernmininghistory.com/towns/arizona/globe

Here’s something else pretty cool.  The old train depot in downtown Globe has been completely restored, which was a huge job (it was used as a laundromat for a long time).  They have a 1917 steam locomotive pulling some very neat pullman passenger cars.  Read about it here:

http://www.copperspike.com/

more tomorrow…

Tags: Arizona, Arizona Copper Mines, Arizona towns, community, Copper Mine, explore, Globe, Globe Arizona Road Trip, Globe Arizona Travel, Globe-Miami, Mexican Food, Miami, mining, Old Dominion Mine, restaurant, retirement, strawberry arizona, Superior, travel

After we left Fossil Springs, we drove to Happy Jack to eat.  Happy Jack is on Hwy 87 about 35 miles north of Strawberry.  If you want to eat in Strawberry, there is a pretty good Italian food place there – but it was super busy, so we decided to drive up the road to the Long Valley Cafe in Happy Jack.  Great food – but if its really busy, you have to be patient because there are only two waitresses (who were very nice).  Good burgers, good ice cream and good chicken fried steak.

Another good place to stop (on the way to or from Fossil Springs) is the Starbucks in Camp Verde – very friendly staff.

Tags: Arizona, eating out, food, Happy Jack, restaurant

steep drop on way down

Trip to Fossil Creek

We finally made it back to Fossil Creek this weekend.  This is such a great place to go when it is 115 degrees in Phoenix!  Here is a couple of different ways to get there:

Take Highway 87 towards Payson. You’ll pass Payson, Pine, and then you’ll come to Strawberry. OR – you can take I-17 North out of Phoenix towards Flagstaff until you get to Camp Verde.  Take the 260 East from Camp Verde until you get to Highway 87, turn Right on Hwy 87 and take that to Strawberry, Arizona.  If you take the Camp Verde way, you will not pass through Payson or Pine before coming to Strawberry.

its a long way down to the bottom

Once you reach Strawberry, Arizona, turn on Fossil Creek Road – you will see the Strawberry Lodge, that is where you turn (left if coming from Payson, right if coming from Camp Verde). Stay on Fossil Creek Road for about 5 miles. The first 2 miles or so is paved, the next 3 miles will be on a maintained (sometimes not very well maintained) dirt road that any car can drive on (we took our Prius, but it was pretty bumpy). After about 5 miles on Fossil Creek Road you’ll see a turnoff that leads to a parking lot on the right side. That’s where you begin if you want to hike down to the headwaters of Fossil Springs. We have not hiked down to the headwaters yet, we have fairly young kids and it is a somewhat strenuous hike (especially coming back up).  Our favorite thing to do is to continue driving to the bottom of the canyon and swim in some spectacular swimming holes in Fossil Creek.

Storm on the way

If you continue past the Fossil Springs trail head, you will shortly come to a narrow, somewhat windy road that clings to the side of the Mogollon Rim as it winds down to the bottom of the canyon.  In most places the road is wide enough for two vehicles to pass, but you need to drive cautiously and slow.  I am a bit afraid of heights and since I am the passenger most of the time, the steep drop is right next to me most of the way down – kind of scary – but worth it.

narrow dirt road

It takes about 25 minutes from the top of the canyon to the bottom of the canyon.  I posted some pictures that show the drive down on the narrow dirt road.  Be careful driving down, in some places it is only wide enough for one car, so you have to pull over if there is a car coming in the opposite direction.  Once you reach flat land again, you continue to drive on the dirt road for about another 10 minutes.  You will pass approximately two parking areas.  The second parking area has an old “APS” sign in it.  If you stop here, there is a wonderful swimming hole that is surrounded by high rock cliffs.  This is beautiful, but it is hard to get down to the swimming area if you have young kids with you.  When we were there, many people were jumping off of the very high rocks – we were afraid that someone was going to get hurt, but nobody did (40 foot high cliffs, approx).

Fossil Creek Bridge / Swimming Hole

Under the bridge

Our favorite place is just down the road a bit from this parking area.  If you keep driving, you will come to (and drive over) and old bridge.  This is the best swimming hole if you have kiddies.  Most people park around the bridge and scramble down the rocks on the far side of the bridge.  There is a great swimming hole, a rope swing and some (not very high) rocks to jump off of.  It was a bit crowded when we were there last weekend, seems to be getting more popular.  I have been coming here since I was a teenager and it was never this crowded before!

the pool under the bridge

The water is a beautiful blue color, seriously, you have to see it to appreciate it.  It is very clear – you can almost always see to the bottom of the creek – except some of the deeper pools.  An amazing million gallons of water per hour pour out of the springs and the water stays at a constant temperature of 72 degrees -  which feels wonderful when it is a HOT Arizona summer day.  It is called Fossil Creek/Springs because of the calcium and mineral rich water that has deposited huge formations of travertine all along the valley.  This travertine essentially fossilizes everything that falls into the creek.

It was raining, we hid under the bridge

If you keep on going down the dirt road, after the bridge, you will eventually come to the Verde Falls – beautiful place.  Once you reach the Verde Falls, you are also near the Verde Hot Springs.  However, the last time I was there, there were quite a few nudists – which was not really my thing.  I haven’t taken my kids there, I don’t think they would like soaking in the hot springs with naked strangers – not that there is anything wrong with that, if that is your thing. 

Tags: Arizona, arizona swimming holes, fossil creek, fossil creek arizona, fossil creek natural spring, fossil springs, fossil springs trail, hiking arizona, hot springs, natural springs in arizona, off road, payson arizona, pictures, road trip, strawberry arizona, travel, verde falls, verde hot springs, verde river

I am a 5th generation Arizonan, my family has lived all over Arizona in the last 100 or so years.  My husband and I like to take roadtrips with our kids in and around Arizona.  Our goal is to take at least one trip per month.  We usually stay fairly close to Phoenix (within about two hours travel time) because our trips are usually just day trips.  We love to explore new places and return to our favorite places.  There have been so many times when I wished that I could find information about the places we wanted to visit – so hopefully this blog will provide useful information to others who want to road trip around Arizona.  I would love it if people made suggestions about great places to visit and comments about places they have visited.  Let me know what you think about our travels.

Tags: Arizona, arizona facts, arizona history, arizona tourism, day trip, driving, explore, flagstaff arizona, fossil creek arizona, fossil springs, fossil springs az, Globe Arizona, hiking, jerome arizona, payson arizona, payson az, phoenix arizona, prescott arizona, road trip, scenic drive, things to do in arizona, travel