White Mountains, Off The Beaten Path

It’s a yearly summer ritual for many Arizonans–the drive up to the White Mountains to escape the heat in the Valley of the Sun.

As you make your way past Payson, you’ll head east along the 260, and your mood, just like the scenery, dramatically changes–you’re feeling alright and starting to feel cool and breezy.

Driving further east, you might even catch a summer rainstorm on your way there as you make your way into the busy town of Show Low. 

You see the landscape change again to the rolling, yellow grasslands and big skies as you approach Springerville and the Arizona–New Mexico border.

What is this magical place? It’s the serene, beautiful, cool White Mountain country of far eastern Arizona. This land of former hunter-gatherers is now a place that calls out to hiker-explorers.

We’ll take your inner explorer to the prettiest river hikes along the Thompson Trail and trek a lakeside path in a state park with breathtaking views.