Arizona's mountainous high-country forest of pine, juniper, canyons, and wilderness canyons around Prescott.
Prescott National Forest
Prescott National Forest is a large United States National Forest in north central Arizona, centered on the city of Prescott and spreading across the mountains southwest of Flagstaff and north of Phoenix. It covers about 1.25 million acres of varied Arizona terrain, dominated by pine and juniper woodlands, rugged canyons, mesas, and high grassy parks that fan out from the Bradshaw Mountains and connect southward into the Verde Rim country. The forest is administered by the U.S. Forest Service and is divided into three ranger districts: the Chino Valley Ranger District in the north, the Bradshaw Ranger District in the southwest, and the Verde Ranger District in the southeast.
Within its boundaries lie eight designated wilderness areas totaling more than 104,000 acres, along with numerous developed family campgrounds, dispersed camping zones, lakes, and miles of trail. Prescott National Forest blends recreational intensity with ecological significance, providing habitat for southwestern wildlife and protecting watershed, canyon, and montane forest landscapes that transition between the Sonoran lowlands and the Mogollon highlands. It serves as a defining outdoor landscape for central Arizona and is closely tied to the regional identity of Prescott and the surrounding high desert.
