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Snowshoeing Northern Arizona

© Jill Florio

Modern snowshoes have evolved beyond the traditional wooden frames of yesteryear, resulting in lighter, more maneuverable shoes. Of course, there's a certain cache to strapping on the old ash timber beaver tails and heading deep into the high-country. Either way, pick a shoe that suits the terrain - claws and cleats now make ascending a mountain possible, while Atlas Snowshoes, for example, developed a lightweight, spring-loaded system specifically for trail running in the snow!

Here's your guide to getting away from the altogether stylish ski scene in northern Arizona, places with room to think, and breathe, and simply be.

The White Mountains

Northeast Arizona comes alive when snow covers the 9,000' alpine meadows. It's just you and the bugling elk, and miles stretching across the vastness...

Mt. Baldy

West Fork of the Colorado: Turn right off of Forest Road 113 and park in the obvious parking lot at Sheep Crossing. A vault toilet is available at the trailhead. Here sits some of the best Arizona mountain scenery for hiking or snow wandering, approaching only Colorado in quiet grandeur. The path descends gently one mile, then rises gradually for three. A longer, harder excursion can be worked in by following the trail past the meadow, into the deep dark spruce forest, an advanced endeavor offering a one-way journey up eight miles of steepness to the top of Mt. Baldy. Or pick your way along the creek and it's tributaries to experience whiter than white terrain and zero crowds...It's illegal to actually summit Mt. Baldy, but the trail does top out close enough, for a fifteen-mile roundtrip hike. The peak is on Apache tribal lands and they consider it sacred. East Fork of the Colorado: The trailhead lies further southeast down Forest Road 113. Look carefully for the trailhead as it's easy to miss the turn. While the parking lot here is rougher (still fine for sedans) and there is no pit toilet, the scenery is more varied. Starting along another meadow-lined creek, this trail climbs quickly into the pine-spruce forest. After two miles it winds between dark grey, monolithic rock outcrops. At the third mile you'll climb onto a delightful rocky ridge: a great destination by itself. From here the way trundles west along a series of ridges, in and out of views of vast spaces south, east and north. Mount Baldy looms larger, the further up you go. At mile seven look for the remnants of a crashed plane by the obvious vegetated spring area.

tramping the hills of Flagstaff

you can also ski cross-country if you prefer

at Sunset Crater National Monument

the world is your oyster

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