About the Rim Country...
Just about everyone is familiar with the more well-known
parts of Arizona: the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon,
Lake Powell, Lake Mead and Lake Havasu, with Boulder Dam
and Monument Valley, and the Great Sonoran Desert. Now,
prepare to experience one of Arizona's best kept secrets...
the majestic beauty, peace and tranquility of Central
Arizona's mountain resort communities, a handful of quaint
towns and villages sprinkled at the foot of the Mogollon
Rim.
If you were to drive north for just over an hour from Scottsdale's
Shea Boulevard on the
Beeline Highway, you'd find yourself right
in the geographic center of the state, 4000 feet higher than you
were in Phoenix, and fifteen to twenty degrees cooler, no matter
what time of year.
You're in the "Rim Country," a four-season vacation getaway
that's well off the beaten path. Before you is a spectacular geological
formation known as The Mogollon Rim (pronounced Muggy-own). Once inhabited
by the ancient Anasazi, this gargantuan 2000 foot escarpment bisects the
state from west to east for almost two hundred miles, and towers above the
communities of Payson, Pine, Strawberry, Kohl's Ranch and Christopher Creek.
"The Rim," as it's referred to by the locals, is the natural
demarkation line between the vast, open rangelands and the Great Sonoran
Desert to the south, and the Colorado Plateau, the beginnings of the Rocky
Mountains to the north.
These picturesque mountain towns and villages are surrounded completely by
National Forests, and exist in a unique temperate zone in which the weather
evolves through all four seasons, ranging from mediterranean to alpine,
providing a climate found virtually nowhere else in the entire Southwest.
On the drive up from Phoenix, one marvels as the Sonoran Cottonwood, Yucca,
Mesquite, and Saguaro give way to grasslands dotted with Oak, Piñon and
Juniper. As the altitude increases and the temperature drops, the edges of a
vast, forest come into view.
Few know that Arizona contains the world's largest stand of Ponderosa Pine,
the source of what environmentalists worldwide describe as "some of the
purest air found anywhere on the planet."
The trip up to Payson, the vibrant hub of the Rim communities, is a scenic
and gradual climb to just over 5000 feet. Highway 87 continues north to the
Village of Pine, and eventually reaches 6500' in the rarefied air above
historic Strawberry.
Traveling east from Payson, Highway 260 winds through the pine-clad foothills
along the base of the Rim for about 30 miles, through Kohl's Ranch, again
reaching 6000' in Christopher Creek and Young. Then, climbing the face of the
Rim itself, the highway tops out at 7800 feet near Forest Lakes, and
continues on to the twin communities of Heber-Overgaard, where even
midsummer nights require a jacket. Here atop the Rim are seven sparkling,
clearwater lakes, each with its own unique character and ambiance, and each
worth a trip to explore.
Scattered throughout these countless forested acres are numerous lakes,
streams, campgrounds, trails, cabins, homes, ranches, lodges, and business
opportunities for those of an entrepreneurial spirit.
There is truly something here for everyone, whether that "something"
is a remote cabin in the tall pines, a sprawling ranch, or a magnificent
cedar and glass contemporary on a mountain top, the Rim Country has it all.
So, just pick a season... here in the Rim Country, we have a spectacular one
for any time of the year. Then, come on up and discover one of the last of
Arizona's best kept secrets!
RimCountry.Com
eMail: admin@rimcountry.com