AtoZ Bucket List
"Where have you been?"
Abandoned & Ghost Towns
Ancient Ruins
Caves
Desert
Forest
Historical
Hot Springs
Lakes & Rivers
National & State Parks
Peaks
Lakes & Rivers
Arizona has more water than most people expect — mountain lakes tucked into the pines of the Mogollon Rim, desert rivers that carve through canyon country, and quiet shorelines that feel a world away from the city. These are places for fishing, swimming, kayaking, camping on the water, and simply sitting next to something that moves. Several of the lakes and rivers in this list are spots we return to year after year.
Alamo Lake Wildlife Area
Alamo Lake Wildlife Area near Wenden, Arizona is a remote desert oasis where the Bill Williams River spreads into a 3,500-acre bass fishing lake surrounded by saguaro-covered mountains — with dispersed camping on secluded beaches and peninsulas, exceptional birdwatching year-round, and wild burros roaming the desert road in.
#Fishing, #Camping, #Lake, #Boating, #BLM, #ArizonaStateParks, #Hiking, #Recreation, #River, #Desert
Apache Lake
Apache Lake, located in the Tonto National Forest, is a scenic reservoir offering both developed and dispersed camping options. Surrounded by steep canyon walls and accessible via the historic Apache Trail, it’s a hidden gem perfect for camping, boating, and outdoor adventures. The Burnt Corral Campground provides 76 campsites, and visitors can also enjoy secluded dispersed campsites with stunning views of the lake and desert landscape.
#Camping, #Boating, #TontoNationalForest, #Lake, #Recreation
Bear Canyon Lake
Bear Canyon Lake is one of the most rewarding dispersed camping destinations on the Mogollon Rim — a beautiful, narrow, canyon-bound lake at 7,560 feet in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, stocked with rainbow trout six times a year, surrounded by mixed conifer and aspen, and tucked far enough off the main road that solitude is almost always guaranteed.
#Camping, #Lake, #Forest, #Fishing
Bear Flat (FR 405)
Bear Flat is one of the Tonto National Forest's most rewarding and least-visited dispersed camping areas — easy forest road access through the pines near Payson, Arizona, with an old homestead site, a spring-fed canyon trail, wild blackberries and bear country solitude on FR 405 and 405A. Tonto Creek is a short drive away with access to a trail leading to the rugged Hellsgate Wilderness.
#Camping, #Fishing, #River, #Forest
Black Canyon Lake
Black Canyon Lake is a scenic 78-acre trout fishing lake on the Mogollon Rim in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest — a quiet alternative to the more visited Rim Lakes, with forested shoreline, electric motor boating, and wild horses known to stop at the water's edge.
#ApacheSitgreaves, #Boating, #Exploring, #Fishing, #Forest, #Hiking, #Lake, #MogollonRim
Black River (Fork Confluence)
The confluence of the East Fork and West Fork Black River in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest is one of Arizona's most rewarding dispersed camping destinations — reached via the short but rough Home Creek Road (FR 8750), with trout fishing, a spillway swimming hole, and genuine high-country solitude at nearly 7,500 feet.
#Camping, #Fishing, #Forest, #Hiking, #River, #ApacheSitgreaves, #Recreation, #Wildlife
Black River (West Fork)
The West Fork of the Black River along FR 68 in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest is one of Arizona's most rewarding high-elevation dispersed camping destinations — a clear mountain river at 7,740 feet surrounded by towering ponderosa pine, wild horses, abundant wildlife, and a short hike to Colonel Spring for fresh cold water, in the heart of White Mountains country that bears the scars and recovery of Arizona's largest wildfire.
#Camping, #Fishing, #River, #Forest
C.C. Cragin Reservoir
C.C. Cragin Reservoir — more commonly known as Blue Ridge Reservoir — is one of the most distinctive high-country lakes in Arizona, a narrow canyon-bound reservoir near Happy Jack that looks more like a river than a lake, fed by three watersheds at 6,700 feet, stocked with rainbow, brown, and tiger trout, and surrounded by the ponderosa pine forest of the Mogollon Rim Ranger District in the Coconino National Forest.
#Boating, #Camping, #Fishing, #Forest, #CoconinoNationalForest
Chevelon Canyon Lake
Chevelon Canyon Lake, nestled on the Mogollon Rim in northern Arizona, is a serene, hidden gem offering fishing, hiking, and camping. Accessible via a challenging hike, this narrow reservoir is surrounded by rugged canyon views, perfect for nature lovers seeking adventure.
#Camping, #Fishing, #Forest, #Hiking, #Lake, #Recreation, #Boating, #MogollonRim
Christopher Creek Campground
Christopher Creek Campground is a classic Mogollon Rim escape tucked along the banks of a spring-fed creek in the Tonto National Forest — ponderosa pines, flowing water, stocked trout, and cool mountain air just 90 minutes from Phoenix at 5,640 feet elevation.
#TontoNationalForest, #Wildlife, #River, #Recreation, #Photography, #Hiking, #Forest, #Exploring, #Camping
Dead Horse Ranch State Park
Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, Arizona is a 423-acre Verde River riparian paradise — home to one of fewer than 20 Fremont Cottonwood-Goodding Willow forests remaining worldwide, three stocked fishing lagoons, 20+ miles of trails, kayaking on the Verde River, and camping under the cottonwoods in the heart of the Verde Valley.
#Boating, #Camping, #Fishing, #Hiking, #Photography, #River, #Wildlife
Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River
Fossil Creek is one of only two Wild and Scenic Rivers in Arizona — a spring-fed desert oasis discharging over 30 million gallons of 72°F water daily from the base of the Mogollon Rim, with crystal-clear turquoise pools, travertine waterfalls, lush riparian habitat, and one of the most dramatic creek restoration stories in the American Southwest.
#CoconinoNationalForest, #Desert, #Hiking, #River, #Recreation, #Photography, #Wildlife, #Exploring, #Fishing
Horseshoe Dam & Reservoir
Horseshoe Dam on the Verde River in the Tonto National Forest is one of the Phoenix area's most remote and rewarding destinations — a WWII-era earthfill dam listed on the National Register of Historic Places, where water releases create a rare walk-behind waterfall, and the Verde River below offers dispersed camping, exceptional wildlife, and moonbow nights.
#Camping, #Desert, #Exploring, #Fishing, #Recreation, #River, #Wildlife, #TontoNationalForest, #Photography, #Hiking, #Lake
Lynx Lake & Lynx Creek
Lynx Lake is a serene 55-acre reservoir at 5,600 feet in the Bradshaw Mountains of the Prescott National Forest — one of central Arizona's most popular recreation areas offering trout fishing, kayaking, hiking, gold panning on Lynx Creek, dispersed camping along FR 30, and a rich mining history stretching back to the first gold discovery in 1863.
#Ancient Ruins, #Boating, #Camping, #Exploring, #Fishing, #Forest, #Lake, #Photography, #RockHounding, #River, #Wildlife, #Recreation
Mingus Lake & Mingus Mountain
Mingus Lake is a small trout-stocked pond at 7,500 feet on Mingus Mountain in the Prescott National Forest — a quiet day use fishing spot surrounded by ponderosa pines with sweeping Verde Valley views, a campground less than a mile away, and one of the most scenic drives in central Arizona on the way up.
#Camping, #Fishing, #Forest, #Lake, #Photography, #Wildlife
Oak Creek (Midgley Bridge)
The Midgley Bridge swimming hole on Oak Creek in Sedona is one of the most beautiful and accessible creek experiences in Arizona — reached by a short descent on the Midgley Bridge Trail and Huckaby Trail, with red rock narrows, natural water chutes you can ride, deep swimming holes, and canyon views that rival anything Slide Rock has to offer with a fraction of the crowds.
#Desert, #Hiking, #River, #Recreation, #Photography, #Wildlife
Oak Creek (Red Rock Crossing)
Red Rock Crossing on Oak Creek near the Village of Oak Creek is one of the most iconic and photographed views in Arizona — Cathedral Rock rising 1,515 feet above the creek, reflected in pools of clear water, accessible via the Baldwin Trail from Verde Valley School Road with swimming holes, Buddha Beach, sand banks, and the kind of day that ends with a double rainbow if you stay long enough.
#Desert, #Exploring, #Fishing, #Hiking, #Photography, #Recreation, #River, #Wildlife
Pinery Creek
Pinery Creek dispersed camping on FR 42C near Onion Saddle in the Chiricahua Mountains offers one of the most rewarding off-the-beaten-path camp experiences in southeastern Arizona — cliff views at 6,160 feet, a cold clear creek for swimming, an Acorn Woodpecker granary tree right in camp, and the kind of solitude that only comes from finding a place most people drive past.
#Camping, #Cave, #Exploring, #Forest, #Hiking, #Photography, #Recreation, #Wildlife
Riggs Flat Lake
Riggs Flat Lake is an 11-acre alpine lake at 9,000 feet near the summit of Mount Graham in the Coronado National Forest — stocked with rainbow, brown, and brook trout, surrounded by pine forest and meadow, and sitting at the end of the Swift Trail as a reward for the drive up.
#Camping, #Boating, #Fishing, #Exploring, #Forest, #Hiking, #Lake, #Wildlife, #Photography
Roosevelt Lake
Roosevelt Lake is Arizona's largest lake entirely within state borders — a 21,000-acre desert reservoir formed by the historic Theodore Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River, offering world-class bass fishing, kayaking, lakeside camping, and sweeping Sonoran Desert views just 90 miles from Phoenix.
#Boating, #Camping, #Desert, #Fishing, #Hiking, #Lake, #Recreation, #Wildlife
Slide Rock State Park
Slide Rock State Park in Oak Creek Canyon north of Sedona is one of Arizona's most beloved natural attractions — an 80-foot natural sandstone water slide worn slick by Oak Creek, a historic 1912 apple orchard, wading pools, hiking trails, and canyon views that have drawn visitors from around the world since Frank Pendley built his homestead here more than a century ago.
#ArizonaStateParks, #River, #Recreation
Sycamore Canyon (Parsons Trail)
Parsons Trail is the gateway to Sycamore Canyon Wilderness — Arizona's largest canyon wilderness at 56,000 acres, stretching 21 miles from the Verde Valley floor to the Colorado Plateau rim. A 7.4-mile round trip along Sycamore Creek through towering red sandstone walls leads to Parsons Spring, one of the most rewarding hike-to destinations in central Arizona.
#Desert, #Hiking, #Photography, #River, #Recreation, #Wildlife, #CoconinoNationalForest
West Fork Oak Creek Trail
West Fork Oak Creek Trail in Oak Creek Canyon is consistently ranked among the finest hikes in Arizona — a 6.6-mile round trip through a narrowing red rock canyon alongside the West Fork of Oak Creek, past the ruins of the historic Mayhew Lodge, beneath towering cliffs hundreds of feet tall, with thirteen creek crossings and a canyon that gets more dramatic the further you go.
#Hiking, #Backpacking, #CoconinoNationalForest, #River, #Wildlife
Willow Springs Lake
Willow Springs Lake is the second most visited lake on the Mogollon Rim — a beautiful 158-acre reservoir set in the ponderosa pine forest at 7,500 feet, offering excellent trout and bass fishing, kayaking, and one of the most scenic shoreline views on the rim.
#Boating, #Camping, #Fishing, #Forest, #Hiking, #Lake, #ApacheSitgreaves, #MogollonRim
Woods Canyon Lake
Woods Canyon Lake is the most popular and accessible lake on the Mogollon Rim — a beautiful 158-acre reservoir surrounded by ponderosa pine, stocked weekly with rainbow trout, and equipped with a general store and boat rentals for a full day on the water.
#Boating, #Camping, #Fishing, #Forest, #Hiking, #Lake, #Recreation, #MogollonRim, #ApacheSitgreaves
See a tent?
Place has camping
or close by.
Abandoned & Ghost Towns
Ancient Ruins
Caves
Desert
Forest
Historical
Hot Springs
Lakes & Rivers
National & State Parks
Peaks