The Coronado National Forest crosses sixteen scattered mountain ranges or “sky islands” rising dramatically from the desert floor, supporting plant groups as biologically varied as those encountered on a trip from Mexico to Canada.

Mt. Graham is rugged  and heavily forested with its tallest peak reaching 10,720 ft.  The road/trail is mostly paved and features numerous twists and turns, including several sharp hairpin turns. Because of these extremely sharp turns vehicles longer than 40 feet are prohibited.  You definitely have to pay attention because there are no guardrails and you don’t want to go off the edge of a cliff.  

When we were driving up the mountain we noticed it was getting chiller.  When we left the campground it was about 78⁰ and now it was around 60⁰.   That was when we came to an elevation about 7000ft and noticed these really nice houses at that level.  The houses were definitely away from any services  but we got to thinking. . . what better place to be in the summer months when AZ has over 100⁰ weather than right here.

When we got to elevation 9000 and no pavement we decided to head back down the mountain. It was a a chilly 50⁰.

Spectacular views, we were as high as the clouds.

They have boondocking at the park with a fire pit, table and an outhouse at 6000ft. and 7000ft. After that at 9000ft they have undeveloped recreation areas for camping.

We had an grand adventure visiting Mt. Graham. We haven’t taken any hairpin turns or been that high up since we were in The Rocky Mountains. The scenery was fantastic!