The White Mountains & Piddly Peaks

The White Mountains of Eastern Arizona hold some of the prettiest land in the state (in my opinion). Streams flow through alpine meadows while pines tower above the forest floor. A ski area squarely placed on White Mountain Apache reservation land dominates the western edge of the range. Access to the most popular trails around the foot of Mount Baldy (the highest peak in AZ outside the San Francisco Mountains) is restricted to three highways; SR 273 and SR 261 from the north, and Three Forks Road from Alpine to the east. All three roads close for the winter, but generally open again mid-April.

Getting There

As mentioned before, access to the nicest and most popular part of the Whites is closed during winter. Unfortunately for me, this meant I had to find other peaks to bag around the lesser-known portions of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. These smaller and much less significant peaks dot the route along SR-260 from Eager/Springerville to Show Low. A multitude of forest roads provide alternate routes, of which I took a variety. Choose your own adventure!

Route

Each of these piddly peaks has a pretty short and direct route to their summits, so I won't waste your time describing them. Instead, I'll provide my driving track as recorded by OnX Offroad! My track starts at the base of Greens Peak, so it cuts off the portion from the highway to there (I'm sure you can infer the route yourself). I also changed the base layer on the map since the USFS Topo layer is intended for hiking and not summarizing 34 miles of driving. The red waypoint markers are the peaks that I did, the blue line is my driving track from east to west (right to left).

Part 1 of the OnX Offroad track

Part 2 of the OnX Offroad track

To view a version of this map you can change the layer on yourself and zoom in on, go to https://caltopo.com/m/9KRN378#.

Additionally, the stat box at the top of the page holds the mileage/elevation gain for all the short hikes combined, while the prominence and peak altitude are for the highest peak I did (Greens Peak).

The Trip

Tuesday

This segment of spring break starts the day before, on March 10. I arose from a good night's sleep with a wet pillow and the sun in my eyes. The bolt in my topper had in fact leaked, but not enough to wake me. Good enough. Hopping out of the truck, I took a moment and found the reference marks for the survey marker I had almost watered the night before. After that and a quick snack, Belle and I loaded up and continued on down Tanque Road.

Since there was some time in the day and only one potential hike planned (Rose Peak, on the AZ Lookouts list), I went survey marker hunting. There were a surprising amount of them along this backroad (surprising amount being three, plus their respective reference marks). Below is TAN, the only one that had a reasonable name and not a jumble of letters and numbers.

The TAN benchmark

Railroad tracks crossed the road, and I couldn't pass on the opportunity to go take some photos. The tracks still looked to be in service, but since I could see for a literal mile in each direction I figured I could jump out of the way fast enough should a locomotive try to flatten me.

Belle prancing on the tracks - so *dangerous*

After this risqué photo op, the road continued east, eventually joining a nicely paved two lane ribbon that cut north all the way to US-191. From here, I followed 191 up into the Whites.

Just the long empty asphalt ribbon

Along 191 are a variety of small towns, with the biggest being Morenci. Morenci is one of the few remaining true company towns in Arizona. Freeport-McMoran has a massive mining operation (appropriately named the Morenci Mine) of which they suck out over 500 million pounds of copper per year. Wikipedia, the all-knowing Internet god, tells that Morenci Mine is one of the largest copper mines in the world. This tracks along with the five C's of Arizona (Cattle, Cotton, Copper, Climate, and Citrus). If you're a railfan, you might also be interested in Freeport-McMoran running their own little rail interchange (the Freeport-McMoran Industrial Railroad, interchanging with Eastern Arizona Railway).

Get outta the way already!

I had to wait for one such train, not just at one intersection, but at two! The canyon walls demanded the train cross the same road twice, effectively trapping me in the middle road section. The train also chose this spot to grind to a halt, holding me hostage for about fifteen minutes before finally pulling all the way into the station.

After being released from potential enslavement as a laborer (I no longer yearn for the mines as I did when I was a child), I was allowed to continue on up the steep climb through the mine and into the mountains. Seeing the scale of the earthmoving operation was amazing. Whole mountains had been removed and carved into nothing, leaving massive pits with amphitheater steps from base to ridgetop. Freeport was kind enough to set up a public overlook area with informational signs, a dump truck tire taller than two of me, and a CAT 16-cylinder engine. From this vantage point, I was able to see the edge of the mine where the amphitheater turned into wild forest and red rock once more. I couldn't help but think to myself how long it would be before the red spires in the distance also became reduced to rubble.

Quite the hole in the ground. Note the 'small' dumptrucks on the road

My body required I stop at a campground just above the mine to drop a deuce in the pit toilet since the next town was over two hours away; thank you Forest Service for leaving this one open in the "winter". You're welcome for sharing this information as well.

The drive up toward Alpine was a really pretty one (the banner image is one view). Lots of views out to the west, lots of conifers and oaks to fill in the rest. As mentioned, I had planned to hopefully just drive up to Rose Peak, but once I reached the turnoff I saw the gate was still closed. I guess I finally found the line between winter and non-winter.

I continued meandering on up the winding high-altitude road. An ADOT maintenance station was the only sign of life for miles. My next checkpoint was the Blue Peak trailhead. Blue Peak is one of those that's on the AZ 20-20 Challenge list, and I figured if I could drive up the road it wouldn't be too hard of a day hike. Instead, I was greeted with a snow-covered highway and lively flurries above 8,000ft. After coming to the junction of the Blue Peak road and the highway and seeing slushy snow over half a foot deep, I figured the 2WD 5-lug slug wouldn't be able to make it so Blue Peak plans were abandoned. Lunch time was approaching, and Blue Peak Overlook was right there begging to be the perfect lunch spot. I turned around and went back up the highway to the loop road that goes out to the overlook, which also had slushy snow on it. I sat in the car eating my Chester's fried chicken while an AZ Game & Fish warden mean-mugged me through his F-150 windshield for interrupting his own peaceful lunch hour. After a few minutes, he left me to finish gnawing like an animal on my chicken bones, presumably going out for a very boring patrol of what was probably the quietest area in Arizona that day.

After ensuring that he was well ahead of me, just in case he felt like having someone to talk to, I too abandoned this snowy overlook for hopefully greener pastures. The highway from this point on had maybe an inch or so of half-melted snow. Not enough I couldn't drive it, but enough to make me think I could get stuck if I stopped. On I pushed, feeling like a traveller on the Oregon Trail, blazing new paths through the snow, telling myself I couldn't turn back now. I passed through the "community" of Hannagan Meadow which consists of a small lodge and few camping areas. An older lady stood out on the porch watching me crawl by. I always hope people tell themselves "dang, he made it up here in that?" when I drive by in my down-to-earth Taco. I hope to prove that 4x4 is a lie and you only need medium clearance (read: I'm poor and can't afford luxuries like "high clearance" and "four-wheel drive").

More winding roads abounded, but the snow subsided and eventually disappeared. Coming up on Alpine, I turned off the highway on a dirt county road to give myself some more adventure. I say dirt, but really it was mud; I got some good fishtailing in and practice maintaining the racing line in these conditions.

The view of Alpine from the highway into town

Pulling up back onto pavement just outside the main business area of Alpine, I turned east just to see what was down toward this end of town. "Nothing" is the answer to that, since I only passed homes and one self-storage. I pulled off in order to make a plan for the next step since my idea was to hike either Escudilla or Mount Baldy the next day, both of which were easily accessed-ish from Alpine (at the time, I wasn't aware that the Three Forks road was also closed). Driving back to the west I thought the town was strangely quiet, but it was the middle of the day on a weekday in a tiny out of the way community so I figured that was the norm. Pulling into one of the two motels in town, I walked into the office to be greeted by darkness and an older couple telling me the town was completely powerless after a storm from the night before. Well crap. They recommended I move on north to Eager/Springerville since they had no clue when the power would be back.

This of course kiboshed my mountain plans since from Eager I would have to backtrack over an hour to get to any trailheads. Whatever, the mountains will be there another day. To the north I pushed.

I booked a relatively expensive AirBnB for the night in Eager while sitting in the Alpine motel parking lot. After confirming my reservation the host asked if I could wait until 4:30pm to show up since they weren't quite done turning it over from the last guests. I agreed, figuring I'd just hang out around town if I got there early.

Based on my clock, I got to Eager around 4:00 so took a half hour to peruse the grocery store and potential dinner spots. I pulled up to the AirBnB at almost exactly 4:30 (again, by my clock) and was greeted by the host who stated I was an hour early! What the heck? All my technology (phone, watch, laptop) said it was 4:30, not 3:30. He said it was alright though, I just wouldn't have towels for a few more minutes. While waiting for the towel delivery, I looked up what time it was in town and found my clocks were truly off. Why? Oh, it's because I drove to close to the Sun (New Mexico) and my phone connected to a cell tower there which synced to Mountain Daylight Time and not Mountain Standard Time. And my phone had the cascading effect down through my watch and laptop. Oh the woes of having all your devices connected to each other.

After sorting that out, I had some time to relax. The AirBnB page for this place stated I was free to wander the grounds and say hi to their animals, so I took a gander out down their pasture access road. Belle came with, along with our new friend Tubs. Tubs was a fairly chubby mutt that looked like the offspring of Belle and my roommate's dog Shelby (who himself is a Aussie shepherd mix). Tubs was a really nice and friendly dog, but it took some time to cajole him back into the yard after our excursion.

Tubs in all his glory

For dinner I went out to XA Bar and Grill up in Springerville. After the closure of the main country bar in Flagstaff this last October (The Museum Club), XA felt pretty familiar and a welcome bit of nostalgia. A pretty good burger was had as well as a couple stubbies, and on my way back to Eager I went. After watching a couple episodes of Righteous Gemstones, I passed out in the first real bed I'd had in almost a week.

Wednesday

8am was about the time I awoke on Wednesday. I had a meeting with my professor/boss/graduate mentor at 10, and wanted to get to the TH of my first peak for the day before then. Cleaning up the room didn't take long and I was on the road post-haste.

My route out of town happened to take me past Round Valley High School, home of the only domed high school football field in the nation with space for 5,500 spectators (9,000 during basketball season). Oh the things you'll find in backwater places.

Workman Dome, home of the Round Valley Elks

From here, I took a quick stop at Junk & Java for a white mocha (my favorite coffee spot in town, also the only one I've been to before). Both times I've been, it's been a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere surrounded by an eclectic mix of non-relevant history.

Moving on down the road, my first stop was Antelope Mountain. This small knob sits on state land just to the west of town and just north of SR 260. The peak is on the AZ Lookouts list, which is the only reason it made the cut for me to do. The tall knoll that is Antelope is mostly grass covered with sparse pines. Access to the top is either short and steep cross country, or long and gentle up the access road. But first, I used my brand new Starlink Mini to have a Teams call with my boss who was himself impressed with the signal quality.

Wrapping up my 10 o'clock, I stepped off toward the first summit of the day. I chose a hybrid method of approach; I started straight up the hill until I intersected the access road which I then followed to the peak. Decent views were had, but nothing remarkable. The lookout has long since been removed and only a pile of rocks remains. Across the final saddle sits a number of old radio and other antennas that I poked around in before heading back down and out to the next peak!

Spot the coyote, looks a lot like Belle ;)

Greens Peak seen from the top of Antelope - it's the bare flat one on the left

The menagerie of antennas

Further down the 260 is the junction with FR 117. Taking this north a few miles through high altitude meadows you arrive at the junction with FR 61. Taking 61 up a short bit you junction with the Greens Peak road which leads to my next target (Greens Peak of course). This last section of road that curls around the knob to the top felt like a literal rollercoaster; every twenty feet was a new five foot hump. Nothing the truck couldn't handle, and enough that it was kinda fun doing these gently rolling bumps.

The rollercoaster up to Greens Peak

The top of Greens Peak still has an actively used lookout tower (closed at the time I was there) as well as a metric ton of radio towers. The lookout is on the north end of the peak and the towers string out along to summit ridge to the south.

Greens Peak Lookout - not fenced! But the stairs are still gated, too bad.

A telecom crew was standing around "working" when I arrived and Belle gave one of them a jump scare when she snuck up behind him ("I thought she was a coyote!" he proclaimed). I had noticed on my GMRS radio that the Greens Peak repeater was unresponsive and not self-identifying, so I asked the guys if they knew which tower was the repeater just out of curiosity (they did not, but pointed out five potential candidates, at which point I considered them an unreliable source).

View of Antelope Peak (the bare one on the left) and Escudilla Peak in the distance

The crew went on their way down while I perused for the benchmarks. I only found a couple and some of the reference marks were missing/destroyed. Greens Peak is among Arizona's >10,000ft peaks; it felt a little like cheating to drive all the way up, but I'll take the freebie!

GREEN 1936 - pretty old!

GREEN 1919 - even older!

Here I took my MRE lunch break and planned my next steps. I could go back out to the highway and take the normal route back to Show Low, along which were two more peaks on the AZ Lookouts list, or I could take the backroads and see a new place. I chose the latter, for the adventure of it.

Belle catching some shade, I guess she didn't mind the smell!

This is where the GPS track at the beginning of this monologue starts, at the base of Greens Peak on FR 61. The road on from here was truly peaceful and beautiful. I cruised through pine stands, sparse meadows, and old burns. There came a couple points where the road was significantly muddy enough to concern me, but the way back was worse than the way forward so onward I pressed. A free-use cabin was found on the journey and noted for future utilization and spur roads were taken just to see how far I could get (not very).

The outside look of the cabin - off frame to the left is a massive meadow!

Interior of the cabin, note the big bright spot is from a skylight!

The next planned peak was Lake Mountain, yet another that was on the AZ Lookouts list. Just a short one mile hike up a gated access road gains you no views and YACLT (Yet Another Chain Linked Tower). Frustrating since the benchmark on this one, like most lookouts, is on the concrete pad immediately under the tower. I can only imagine the number of stupid people that have either vandalized or injured themselves on un-fenced towers in this state that necessitated these zoo exclosures.

Lake Mountain Lookout - all chained up

The closest and best you'll get of the LAKE benchmark

Daylight was soon to be waning and I still had miles to go before hitting Porter Mountain Road, a well-maintained gravel road that turns into pavement before entering Show Low. I had my fingers crossed there would be a place to camp with nice views, but I didn't have high hopes since this was the edge of Forest land and multiple private parcels were mixed in. I did manage to find a side road that paralleled private land and led to an open meadow about a quarter mile off the main road. It was here I staked my claim, made my steak dinner, and then was chased into the truck topper by the noisiest pack of coyotes in existence that managed to stay hidden while sounding only a couple hundred yards away.

Thursday

Thursday morning brought about the final peak of this extended loop around Arizona (but not the final peak of spring break): Porter Mountain. The only list this peak is on is Springerville Volcanic Field and no benchmark exists. Really, this was just a "because it's here" peak more than anything. Another gated access road with a short jaunt to the top of a heavily towered flat knob with minimal views. But at least that's one more red dot turned green!

With that, all that was left was the uneventful drive home. While my original goals in the White Mountains had been nowhere near met, I still enjoyed my time there exploring the backwoods that many simply fly by on their way to bigger places. Though to me, you can't beat cruising through 8,000ft forests and meadows with no responsibilities to speak of. With my final stop at the Love's in Winslow, the Great Arizona Loop of Spring Break 2026 was completed. A few more days remained, and with those I took on a major Flagstaff peak that had been taunting me for some time; you'll have to read about that in the next one!

Belle in the Eager AirBnB, wishing you goodnight from the nice soft human bed!