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Antelope Mountain

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ANTELOPE MOUNTAIN View from the saddle of Antelope Mountain near Greer A drive along State Route 260 in the White Mountains between Pinetop-Lakeside and Springerville is a tour of extremes. Fish Creek Corral frames a view of Antelope Mountain The scenic byway begins in dense woodlands replete with lakeside retreats that comes to an abrupt end near the turn off for the town of Greer where the landscape jumps from piney to pastoral.   Ellis Wiltbank Reservoir sits at the base of Antelope Mtn. Like a splash of cold water, the terrain suddenly changes into sprawling grasslands and isolated pine-covered knolls. Figuring prominently in the landscape are hundreds of lumps, bumps, slumps and conical hills--welcome to the complex geology of the Springerville Volcanic Field.   This swath of cinder cones and lava flows sits at the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau, a roughly 130,000 square mile collection of some of the country’s most remarkable landforms (think: Zion, Capitol Reef a...

Porter Mountain via Flume Connector

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PORTER MOUNTAIN via FLUME CONNECTOR White Mountains views from the summit of Porter Mtn. Anchoring the heart of the 200+-mile White Mountains Trail System (TRACKS), the Timber Mesa and Panorama loop trails offer easy access, moderate workouts and abundant scenic beauty. Exposed cinders along the road to Porter Mountain The popular, close-to-town loops are tethered by two lesser-used connector routes: Sawmill #626A and Flume #636B. While enabling seamless travel between the two big circuits, the auxiliary routes also demonstrate that, like a crèam-filled sandwich cookie, the best stuff is in the middle. Porter Mountain seen from the Panorama trailhead Prickly poppies bloom April - November Of the two, the Flume Connector is the easiest to reach. Beginning at the Panorama trailhead, the shady single track moves through the woody space between Flume and Porter Mountains before making a mild ascent to the top of Timber Mesa. But to add some extra punch to the hike, a detour up Porter Mount...

White Horse Hills

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White Horse Hills The mouth of the north pass at White Horse Hills Within the pass that cuts through the pyramid-shaped pinnacles of the White Horse Hills, voices carry. But, voices are rare in the barren cluster of vertical mounds located below the north face of the San Francisco Peaks 20 miles north of Flagstaff in Coconino National Forest. This is not the kind of place hikers drool over visiting, it’s allure draws more curiosity seekers than hard-core trekkers, especially since it competes with nearby Passage 34 of the Arizona Trail.     Inquiring minds might well find amusement on the obscure dirt road that shows up on topographic maps as a oversimplified line connecting Forest Roads 514 and 418. A storm brews above Saddle Mountain (left) Kendrick Mountain seen from FR 9219M Painted Desert views stand out on the route But the reality of hiking the deceptively straight forward course of Forest Road 9219M, which runs down the center of the lumpy conglomerate, is a bit more c...