Floating off in the distance in the eastern portions of the Salt River Valley is the vision of a huge mountain with four distinctive peaks. On clear winter days (very rare now) the mountains can sometimes have a coating of snow. The picture above is the more normal view of the mountains from Mesa. In years past the air quality in the east valley was much better than it is now and it was not so unusual to have a clear view of the mountains.
Four Peaks, located in the Tonto National Forest, are part of the Four Peaks Wilderness Area established in 1984. The wilderness area contains approximately 60,740 acres and elevation within the wilderness area ranges from 1600 feet in the low desert to Brown's Peak at 7,657 feet, the highest of the Four Peaks.
Quoting from the Tonto National Forest Website, "The Tonto National Forest, Arizona, embraces almost 3 million acres of rugged and spectacularly beautiful country, ranging from Saguaro cactus-studded desert to pine-forested mountains beneath the Mogollon Rim. This variety in vegetation and range in altitude (from 1,300 to 7,900 feet) offers outstanding recreational opportunities throughout the year, whether it's lake beaches or cool pine forest. As the fifth largest forest in the United States, the Tonto National Forest is one of the most-visited “urban” forests in the U.S. (approximately 5.8 million visitors annually). Its boundaries are Phoenix to the south, the Mogollon Rim to the north and the San Carlos and Fort Apache Indian reservations to the east."
Just north of the turn-off to the Bush Highway/Saguaro Lake on the Beeline, there is an unpaved road marked to take you to the Four Peaks. The road is passable at some times in a passenger car but a high clearance vehicle would be preferred. The road is extremely popular with ATV riders and 4-wheel drive enthusiasts and has a tendency to be pretty well torn up from the traffic. The road ultimately goes over the ridge by Four Peaks and ends up in the Tonto Basin, but the top part of the road is definitely four-wheel drive territory.
Quoting from the Tonto National Forest Website, "The Tonto National Forest, Arizona, embraces almost 3 million acres of rugged and spectacularly beautiful country, ranging from Saguaro cactus-studded desert to pine-forested mountains beneath the Mogollon Rim. This variety in vegetation and range in altitude (from 1,300 to 7,900 feet) offers outstanding recreational opportunities throughout the year, whether it's lake beaches or cool pine forest. As the fifth largest forest in the United States, the Tonto National Forest is one of the most-visited “urban” forests in the U.S. (approximately 5.8 million visitors annually). Its boundaries are Phoenix to the south, the Mogollon Rim to the north and the San Carlos and Fort Apache Indian reservations to the east."
Just north of the turn-off to the Bush Highway/Saguaro Lake on the Beeline, there is an unpaved road marked to take you to the Four Peaks. The road is passable at some times in a passenger car but a high clearance vehicle would be preferred. The road is extremely popular with ATV riders and 4-wheel drive enthusiasts and has a tendency to be pretty well torn up from the traffic. The road ultimately goes over the ridge by Four Peaks and ends up in the Tonto Basin, but the top part of the road is definitely four-wheel drive territory.
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