Tonto Natural Bridge State Park is beautiful, I'm so glad I had the opportunity to finally check it…read moreout! It costs $10/person and you can pay at the entrance booth with cash or go inside to pay with card. We did not hike down to the creek/observation bridge but will definitely check it out on another visit. There are four easily labeled viewpoints that show different angles of the bridge. There was a lot of wildlife when we went and we even got to see a Coati! This place is great, definitely check it out.

Awesome Father's Day at Tonto Bridge! Got there at 9am when the gate opens and even when we left…read morearound 11:30am on a Sunday there were plenty of parking spots still available in each parking lot. My husband had my 17 mo in a baby carrier and we did the whole loop. We spent a little over 2 hours here. Some parts were super slippery even without water present, esp more towards the bridge, but wear hiking boots and be sure of your footings and you're going to be just fine! Take your time. Stop every now and then and just look up. It's beautiful all the rocks and mountain cliffs. It's beautiful the whole loop trail. Under the bridge the breeze and spray from the water coming down is a treat after being sweating. We saw plenty of young children take on the rocky trails. If you can physically, do the entire big loop. It's worth it.

This is a beautiful trail with a lot of vegetation and scenic variety. We did the trail from the…read moreStrawberry side hiking towards Pine. Park in the lot just east of Ralls Dr on the south side of AZ-87 in Strawberry. The first 1.5 miles wander gently up and down through pine, juniper and manzanita forests with some of the largest junipers and manzanitas that I have seen. The first 1/4 mile is close to the highway, but after that the highway noise dies out. Views of the Rim to the east and also the town of Pine open up after a mile. At about 1.5 miles the vegetation changes to juniper and low growing manzanita with little shade; however in another half mile you come to a pine shaded area and a junction to trails that lead down into the town of Pine. On a weekday in May we only saw one other hiker!

It's a beautiful walk through the Rim Country with lots of wildlife and occasional views.read more

Man I love coming here! And it's been too long since I did. Over the weekend on Saturday I decided…read morelast moment to drive up to Payson so I could put my feet in the creek and spend some time outdoors enjoying it versus hiding from the Phx heat. I had recently been back visiting the Reno Tahoe area and this gave me the same peaceful feeling of being at water with the blue skies and green trees. Plus all the big puffy white clouds! It was a beautiful drive up, I always like the drive to payson but this time due to all the rains, it's more green than I remember it. Since I went at the last moment with no real plan, I didn't look anything up, and one thing to know is that the Horton Creek Trailhead lot is closed due to construction work so if you go, park at the Derrick Trailhead just down the road, before it. I didn't hike, I just went to sit with my feet in the creek and listen to the soothing water sounds. If you want to hike, the Horton Trail is still open, just not the trailhead parking lot. I got there at 3:30pm and had no issue finding parking. Stayed until 6:30 and had a lovely ride home as it was sunset when I got back. I'll be going back up to cool off again, it was upper 80s when I was there.

Loved this 8 miles round trip trail…read more Easy access by a regular car to the parking. Be sure to arrive early as a parking is limited. We arrived around 7am and it was about a half full. When we were ready to go home around noon, this place was packed. Most part of the trail has tree shades, with nice water sound, I felt pretty cool in the hot summer. Trail is mostly flat. Less than 1,000 feet in elevation gain. Trail has access to the creek throughout, you don't have to hike all 4 miles to enjoy cool water. Bring lots of water. I carried almost a gallon of water with me and I think I consumed 2/3 of them. I saw a camper hiking down in the morning. They said they packed everything including water and spent a night in the woods. That sounded really intriguing, I think I should really thinking about camping here someday.

This has been on my bucket list for the past 5 years and this weekend I finally made it! I was…read moreexpecting it to be busy since it was a Sunday and a holiday weekend, but we went in the afternoon and tons of people were leaving when we were parking. The downside to that is that you are hiking in at the hottest part of the day. Which makes the water feel that much more refreshing. The hike isn't hard, you just follow the creek. Some people were in flip flops- which is doable, but the rocks can be quite slippery in places. Bring lots of water. There's some shade, but not tons. Oh- and watch out for the random cow. He's not friendly.

There is an awesome hiking spot here. You don't need a pass you can just park and hike. It's a bit…read moresteep in some areas but lots of people of all ages with dogs too. It was so beautiful this time of year. Slightly off the beaten path from Payson but worth a fun day trip from phoenix to get out of the head and see so fall foliage. Highly recommend

Decided on a Sunday drive to Payson. After lunch we drove to Monument Peak Loop Trailhead for an…read moreeasy hike as it was 82 degrees. The parking lot is very small. We shared it was four other vehicles. The trail signage is perfect. The hike is partially shaded but more sun then shade. It is an easy 3.4 miles. If you take the loop counter clockwise, the beauty is in the last mile. We truly enjoyed this hike and recommend it for something easy and close to the city

It's a nice place to stretch your legs or have kids run around. It's a nice short loop hike around…read morefor those with mobility issues. The history around the ruins are interesting and you can read little markers describing historical aspects. But other than that there's not much to see. We stopped here in the way to Water Wheel Waterfalls just down the road.

Nice little trail and large community of ruins to walk among. Area was very wet and the flooding…read morehas continued around us. We enjoyed the short trail in the area but could not explore much due to the flooding.

Beautiful hike meandering along the creek Very shaded with tall Ponderosa pines, ferns, and pretty…read morelittle waterfalls. We decided this was one of our favorite hikes in the area. We went on a Friday and didn't see anyone else so very nice.

Great place for a day hike and lots to do to keep it short or longer. You can camp and start the…read moreCabin Loop Trail once you get to the top of the Rum which also happens to be part of the Arizona Trail.

I was in town in Show Low staying at my friend's place and decided to take my dog to Tonto National…read moreForest (specifically the two sixty trail area) so we could enjoy the weekend day. It was an hour ride, but I think it was so worth it! My dog really enjoyed it! What I loved was that the facility and trail were clean and well maintained. There was a restroom station and a marker/direction for a subtrail at the entrance from a parking lot. The trail itself was clear and not crowded at all. There were just 2 other people we met during a weekday late morning during our visit for an hour there. My dog really enjoyed roaming around the trail and we loved that we didn't see any trash at all. While the trail was a bit unleveled, the path was clear! Bonus too that it was a free hike/walk for us, including parking! The only minus was that there was no cell phone signal (T-mobile/Mint Mobile), so I was very wary that we might get lost if we didn't keep track of ourselves well enough..so we mostly stayed on the trail and didn't go in too far. But...it is a wonderful place to enjoy the nature for sure!

Even if you're visiting the Phoenix area for only a few days the Tonto National Forest area…read moreprovides several memorable experiences. We spent a full day visiting the Lost Dutchman national park, Goldfield Ghost Town and the Apache Trail road (at least to the part where it was closed) Because of large fires the Apache trail is closed at the halfway point. Dont let that stop you from driving it anyway. Lots of place to pull over and take pictures.. There's also a nice lookout at Canyon Lake, and if you can swing it try getting there at sunset.... The Goldfield Ghost town is also a fun and free diversion with gun battles and plenty of sweets and gift shops.. The Lost Dutchman park has a great morning hike called Siphon Draw to Flatiron trail.. 6 miles total and it's not easy but the views are epic. Look it up on Yelp...

Beautiful place to hike Every-time we come to Payson Washington park has become a must visited…read moredestination

We just have returned from another beautiful camping trip outside of Payson at the camping grounds…read moreat the Washington Park trail . This trail will lead you right up to the rim if you have the equipment , endurance and motivation to get to the top. Our family enjoys camping here when the weather allows for campfires. We like this area because: We have a stream/ creek right behind our campsite. We can hike / walk / explore without difficulties The area has primitive campsites We can drive back to Payson if we need something we have forgotten W e can pull a popup trailer right into the woods with little problem The trees provide shade when it's hot or sunny The weather is generally not too extreme from March to November Dogs are tolerated