Tonto National Forest — Attraction in Payson

This was an awesome place to visit! We went to the Sear Kay Indian Ruins in the Tonto National Forest. This is located just out side of Carefree AZ which is like 15 minutes from the actual old west town of Cave Creek AZ. We love this area and have lived out here for a few years and the hiking in this area is beautiful. These Indian ruins are only like a few miles North of Lake Bartlett. There is wildlife here and you will probably see see deer in the area if you look for them. The parking lot to the ruins is paved and has a bathroom. The also have picnic tables and areas to sit. The parking spaces are limited to probably less than 20 spots. The parking lot does have a gate that the forest rangers probably open and close daily. The hike it self is pretty easy, it is up hill and the trail is marked and maintained. Wear hiking shoes… The views up top are amazing, you can see for miles. The ruins are not still all intact. There are medal signs around each structure showing great pics and information. The walls are still standing in some of the rooms. This is a way cool place to come because you can walk around everything and sit in the rooms that are still partially up. We hiked up and had lunch and came back down the south East trail that is super rugged and steep in some areas. Again, hiking shoes is a must due to the super loose gravel trail coming down this way. If you go this way you can get pretty close to some free standing boulders that are huge and pretty neat looking. This trail is not maintained or marked. I would highly recommend this hike it’s pretty easy especially if you just use the marked trail. Up and down in an easy half hr. There is plenty of places to sit up top and gaze out. Carefree and North Scottsdale are easily visible from the top. Great place for a...

I, along with my friend planned to hike Cottonwood trail last Sunday. Cottonwood, Skull Mesa, Elephant trail, Spur Cross trails all these trails fall under the Tonto National Forest limits. This has various mountain ranges of different complexities. I love this area in specific as it hosts relatively good amount of trees, shrubby vegetation alongside with Arizona's trade mark Saguaro cactus. If one closely observes, the density of Ocotillo and other cacti species other than Saguaro's are lesser in this Tonto Forest limits. It has Cactus Opuntia which is not so frequently seen species in the Sonoran desert belt. I and my friend, we enjoyed eating fresh, organic tunas when we had earlier been to Elephant Mountain trail. Unlike Elephant Mountain trail, we hardly saw people hiking or bikers biking the Cottonwood trail. It was extremely remote and the trails were unkempt. I encountered two rattle snakes when on the trail which indicates the trails are not so frequented by hikers. We saw a large population of grasshoppers (praying mantis) of different sizes and colors. Few of the species appeared as if a small bird flew past us in groups. It really is a solistic place and a tailor made one for those who long for wilderness. I enjoyed the hike as I like wilderness and remoteness. In short, I'm loving this...

We spent Easter at Roosevelt Lake, a tradition of my girl's family. This was the second year for me, and I loved it! We did a lot of exploring around the area. The stark beauty of the lake and it's surroundings are truly awe inspiring! There are quite a few campgrounds surrounding the lake with something for everyone. You can choose to camp with full amenities, showers, water pumps, cabanas w/ picnic tables, and parking for your RV, or you can "rough it" in a campground that offers only space and restrooms. There is even a resort at the south end of the lake. If you take the entrance road to Bachelor Cove, but instead of veering left to the campground, you keep going, the road takes you up into the mountains on a steep dirt road that levels out onto a plateau that offers an absolutely breathtaking view of the lake, dam, bridge, Tonto basin, and miles of desert scenery and mountains. You can go even higher, but the road from this point on is pretty steep with lots of rocks, and sheer dropoff on both sides. I would definitely advise a four wheel drive vehicle to proceed beyond this point. There are many places like this to explore in Tonto National Forest, and especially in Tonto Basin. If you're the outdoor type, I urge you to plan a trip to the area. I think you'll fall in love...