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Tonto National Forest
Around the Forest
At Tonto National Monument, you can explore the pueblo-style cave dwellings of the Salado — an agricultural people who inhabited the Salt River Valley during the 12th, 13th, and early 15th centuries. The well-preserved cliff dwellings were built into a layer of siltstone sheltered by shallow caves overlooking the Tonto Basin. Sometime between 1400 and 1450, the Salado abandoned these dwellings and simply left — no one knows why. In the visitor center museum, you can see exquisite polychrome pottery that the Salado crafted from local clay pits and intricately woven textiles. In the Tonto Natural Land Bridge State Park, you can behold the largest limestone natural bridge in the world— it measures 183 feet high and 400 feet long. The bridge spans a 150-foot-wide canyon and began forming about 1.7 billion years ago.
North of Tonto, you will find Apache-Sitgreaves, Prescott, Kaibab, and Coconino National Forests. South of the forest, visit the ancient celestial observatory of the Hohokam at Casa Grande Ruins — the four-story structure was built sometime before 1350. During the summer solstice, the sun aligns with a circular hole carved out of the observatory's westerly wall.
Not enough? Explore seven other wildernesses in the forest including Mazatzal, Hellsgate, Salome, Sierra Ancha, Four Peaks, Salt River Canyon and Pine Mountain. GORP has compiled an extensive and detailed list on 87 trails that wind their way through six of the eight wildernesses in the Tonto National Forest.
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