Arizona Trail at Pine Trailhead

The Arizona National Scenic Trail is one of only eleven National Scenic Trails in the country, running roughly eight hundred miles from the Mexican border to the Utah line, across desert, canyon, and mountain. Near Pine it follows a passage known as the Highline, and the Pine Trailhead is one of its access points, meaning that anyone who walks out from here is stepping onto a path that, followed far enough, would carry them across the entire state.

Sharing the ground here is the Highline National Recreation Trail, a much older route. Homesteaders established it in the 1870s to connect their scattered settlements along the base of the Mogollon Rim, from Pine eastward toward Christopher Creek, and it traces the foot of that great rock wall for more than fifty miles. Walking it, you are following in the literal footsteps of the pioneers who first tried to make a living in this high, hard country.

The defining feature of this landscape is the Mogollon Rim, pronounced roughly muggy-own, a long escarpment that rises as much as two thousand feet and forms the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau. The trails from Pine thread the transition zone right at its base, where tall ponderosa pines give way upslope to fir, and manzanita, juniper, and oak fill in the drier gaps. Numerous small drainages and seasonal springs cross the path, and the forest smell of warm pine bark is unmistakable.

For a hiker used to the Sonoran Desert, the change is startling. Because of the elevation, the air here is cooler and the shade deeper, and summer in these forests is a genuine escape from the heat below. The Rim itself dominates every view, a rampart of gray and buff rock, and the ambitious can follow the Arizona Trail as it eventually climbs the wall to reach the high, flat pine country on top.

One of the pleasures of the Pine Trailhead is that it serves everyone. A casual visitor can walk out a mile or two into the pines and turn around, enjoying the forest and the Rim views without a hard climb. A stronger hiker can push farther along the Highline, and a serious trekker can use it as a resupply and access point for a long section of the Arizona Trail. Mountain bikers and trail runners share the well-built singletrack too.

Because the terrain climbs toward the Rim, the trails can get rocky and steep the deeper you go, so a day hiker should carry water, watch the time, and pick a sensible turnaround. But the flexibility is the point: this is a place where a family stroll and a two-hundred-mile expedition begin at the very same signboard.

The Pine Trailhead lies just south of the town of Pine, off State Route 87, in the Tonto National Forest, an easy drive up from the Phoenix area and into cooler, higher country. There is a parking area at the trailhead with clear signage for both the Arizona Trail and the Highline Trail, but no other services, so stock up on water, food, and fuel in Pine, which sits just to the north.

Aim for spring or fall, when the weather is mildest. At this elevation, summer afternoons can bring sudden thunderstorms, so hike early and watch the sky, and winter can bring snow to the trail. Carry more water than you think you need, since forested does not mean wet and reliable water sources are seasonal. Whether you want a short forest walk or the start of a long adventure, this trailhead delivers a real slice of Arizona's high-country wilderness.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.