As the fifth largest forest in the United States and the largest of the six national forests in Arizona, the Tonto National Forest occupies nearly three million acres of land and is one of the most-visited forests in the U. S. with approximately 5.8 million visitors annually. Its boundaries are Phoenix to the south, the Mogollon Rim to the north and the San Carlos and Fort Apache Indian reservations to the east. The Tonto National Fores has some of the most interesting, diverse scenery in Arizona, with terrain and elevation ranging from the Sonoran Desert (1,400 feet) to the Mogollon Rim (7,400 feet). Besides desert and mountains it contains lakes – mostly artificially created, fertile river valleys, rocky canyons and flat plains.
The forest has outstanding recreational opportunities all year long. Its scenic landscapes range from cactus-studded desert to pine-forested mountains. The varied levels of elevation (from 1,300 feet to nearly 8,000 feet) offer equally varied temperatures and landscapes, whether it’s lake beaches or cool pine forest.
History & Culture
The Tonto National Forest has a rich heritage reaching thousands of years into the past. Originally home to several prehistoric Indian groups who hunted and gathered wild plants in the Mazatzal Mountains and Sierra Ancha and along the Salt and Verde Rivers and their tributaries, it was colonized more than a thousand years ago by a related group of people known today as the Hohokam. The Hohokam were accomplished farmers, craftsmen, traders and warriors who built large towns and villages and dug hundreds of miles of irrigation canals along the Salt and Gila rivers around Phoenix. Centuries of trade and conflict then gave rise to several distinctive new cultures, the best known of which is the Salado of Tonto Basin.
Eventually, by about 600 years ago, the effects of several hundred years of droughts, floods and warfare took their toll on the Salado, the Hohokam and their neighbors and most of these people left the Tonto area, never to return. Their descendants, however, can be found today among the Pima, Hopi and Zuni tribes.
A twenty-year struggle with the U. S. Army ensued (approximately 1866-1886), resulting in the removal of both the Apache and Yavapai to reservations at San Carlos and Fort Apache. Today the White Mountain and San Carlos Apache reservations border the forest on the east with the Tonto Apache Reservation located inside the forest at Payson and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Reservation situated along the southwest edge. The Apache in particular still use the forest for gathering wild plants and other traditional practices.
Once the army had removed the Indians from the area, the Tonto filled up rapidly with settlers. First came the miners and Mormon farmers, followed quickly by sheep and cattle ranchers. The Mormon colony was withdrawn after a few years and the sheep are all but gone today, but mining remains a major industry around Globe and Miami and cattle ranching continues as a traditional economy and lifestyle, with many of the ranches on the Tonto remaining in the same families who originally homesteaded the area in the 1870′s.
The forest itself owes its existence to a singular historic event that took place shortly after the turn of the century – the building of Roosevelt Dam to control the Salt River and ensure the water supply of what were then the heavily agricultural cities of Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe in the Salt River Valley. Before its recent reconstruction (finished in the early 1990′s), the Theodore Roosevelt Dam was the tallest masonry dam in the world.
The forest was created in 1905 to protect the watersheds of the Salt and Verde rivers. This continues to be a central focus of the Tonto National Forest while the reservoirs built along these rivers have created recreational opportunities for thousands of Arizonans.
The Tonto National Forest Heritage Program, headed by the forest archeologist and a small staff of specialists, is charged with preserving the many archeological and historic sites on the forest and protecting them from development, vandalism and looting.
Recreation
Biking
Year-round fun awaits cyclists on the Tonto National Forest. High country routes afford beautiful views and escape from summer heat. Desert routes provide scenic variety and an alternative to the cold of the Rim Country during the winter months.
Traveler Facts
Contact Information
Tonto National Forest
2324 E. McDowell Road
Phoenix, AZ 85006
Phone: 602-225-5200
Fax: 602-225-5295
Popularity: 1% [?]
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