Coconino National Forest

Located in central Arizona, the Coconino National Forest is a place where you can climb the highest mountain in Arizona, fish in crystal-clear lakes, swim in desert creeks under red rock cliffs and magnificent sycamore trees, float suspended under a hang glider from the crest of a cinder cone, or ski through parks and meadows and ponderosa pines.

Head north to the Colorado Plateau, a high, cold desert of flat-lying rocks and sheer-walled canyons. Go south where you'll find hot desert basins and rugged mountains - the "basin and range province" which includes the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona. From the snow-frosted San Francisco Peaks to desert highlands along the Verde River, Coconino National Forest's 1.8 million acres drop 10,000 feet in elevation and cover a remarkable variety of landscapes.