Coronado Trail Scenic Byway

What sets the Coronado Trail apart is how relentlessly it winds. The full run from the Springerville area down to Clifton stretches well over a hundred miles, and along the way the road throws hundreds of curves and switchbacks at you, coiling up ridges and folding back on itself as it climbs and descends. It is regularly called one of the twistiest paved roads in the country, and drivers who love a good mountain road make the pilgrimage just for that.

All those turns mean the byway is slow going, and that is a feature rather than a flaw. The mileage is modest but the driving time is long, so the trip becomes an unhurried day of shifting views: high desert giving way to ponderosa pine, then to spruce, fir, and aspen as the road tops out near nine thousand feet. Take it gently, use the pullouts, and let the landscape change around you mile by mile.

The scenic high point of the drive is Blue Vista, an overlook perched right on the lip of the Mogollon Rim at over nine thousand feet. The Rim is one of Arizona's most dramatic natural features, a long escarpment where the high forested plateau breaks off and falls away toward the desert below, and from Blue Vista the view runs for miles across the Gila River country to distant ranges on the horizon. It is the kind of overlook that makes you shut off the engine and just stand for a while.

Nearby, the byway passes through Hannagan Meadow, a high mountain clearing that was the very spot where the Clifton-to-Springerville highway was dedicated as the Trail of Coronado back in 1926. The whole stretch rides the top of the Rim through cool, green forest before the road finally begins its long, winding descent toward the desert and the old mining town of Clifton at the southern end.

The Coronado Trail passes through the heart of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and skirts the wild Blue Range, some of the least-crowded backcountry in the state. That emptiness is part of its magic, and it is also good for wildlife. Elk, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope range the meadows and forest edges, black bears live in the woods, and bald eagles and scores of other birds work the high country. This is also home to reintroduced Mexican gray wolves, brought back to the Blue Range beginning in the late 1990s.

For the traveler, that means keeping your eyes on the roadsides as well as the views, especially in the soft light of early morning and evening when animals are on the move. It also means real solitude. You can drive long stretches of this byway meeting almost no one, just the forest, the curves, and the big Arizona sky, which is exactly why people who know it treasure it.

The byway begins near Springerville and Eagar and runs south on US-191 through Nutrioso and the village of Alpine before climbing the Rim past Hannagan Meadow and Blue Vista, then descending the long way to Clifton. Many travelers drive only the northern portion, out to Blue Vista and back, if they do not have time for the full route, and that shorter run still delivers the best of the high forest and the grand Rim view.

Plan carefully before you go. Services are almost nonexistent along the way, so start with a full tank and carry water, snacks, and layers, since the high country stays cool even in summer and turns cold and snowy in winter, when parts of the road can be hazardous or closed. Drive it in the warm season, take the curves at an easy pace, and treat it as a whole day rather than a quick connector. Done right, it is one of the most memorable drives in Arizona.

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