Does fly fishing get your motor revving? If so, put a weekend trip on the calendar to the White Mountains. Year-round, this is the destination for putting your casting techniques to the test—but come with your best game. The White Mountains boasts several state fishing records set in our pristine freshwater lakes and streams. For guided fishing trips, visit flyfisharizona.com or phone +1 410-227-5089

If water sports are your bliss, the White Mountains will be your new favorite vacation destination. With more than 50 lakes and dozens of streams and small rivers, the area is ideal for both motorized and non-motorized water sports and activities, including fishing, ice fishing, boating, paddleboarding, canoeing, kayaking, knee-boarding, picigin, rafting, rowing, sailing, sailboarding, stand-up paddle surfing, tubing, and windsurfing.

If on foot is how you enjoy the forests, the White Mountains Trail System has just the ticket. Centered primarily in the Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside area, there are more than 200 miles of trails at an average elevation of 7,000 ft. If you’re sea-level dweller, our thin air and heights will likely have you feeling breathless and thirsty.

You prefer two wheels over two feet? No problem! The White Mountains Trail System is made up of more than 200 miles of non-motorized, multi-use trails—mountain bikers of all skill levels come here to single-track trails and the natural beauty within the pines.

Your family’s day in the mountains will be made all the more spectacular when you take a short, half-day, or all-day ride over the river and through the woods of the cool-weather White Mountains. Bring your own, or rent a gentle ride the local equestrian facilities. For local horse rentals, visit http://xdiamondranch.com/ and tell them you’re staying at Acorn Lodge.

Look closely in the sky, trees, grasses, and water and you will find a variety of jays, grouses, hummingbirds of every imaginable color, and even birds of prey, such as the eagle, hawk, and owl. Lakes attract nesting, migratory, and wintering species of waterfowl as well as bald eagles.

No matter where you are in the White Mountains, an opportunity to view wildlife in its natural habitat abounds. In our region, there are more than 400 species—from common critters such as the black squirrel, to reclusive wolves and shy mountain lions and goats.

If you were ever a kid—or still are one—you know the sheer joy of sliding down a hill at break-neck speeds on your sled or inner tube, squealing or screaming depending upon the ride. The White Mountains is covered with mini hills perfectly suited for a day with the little ones in the snow and something smooth under their butt. Follow just about any trail in any direction and you’re likely to stumble upon (or tumble down) a fresh-packed mound of white, fluffy flakes in need of sled marks.

Ski for a day or pack in a tent and provisions for trailside camping. If you’re up for the challenge, head to the backcountry and ascend the slopes of Escudilla, the third highest mountain in Arizona, or go for the solitude of the Bear Wallow Wilderness. No matter which path you choose, you will be kept company by the looming pines and wildlife that make their home within.

Between Greer and Pinetop-Lakeside is the year-round Sunrise Park Resort, owned and operated by the White Mountains Apache Tribe. Draped across Sunrise Peak, Cyclone Circle, and Apache Peak you can enjoy downhill skiing and snowboarding often called the best in Arizona.

Fans of the Maverick Trail in the summer won’t recognize the place with its covered in snow pack and tracks from the steady stream of winter visitors. On board your snow machine, duck under low-hanging branches, heavy with new snow and leave your temporary mark in the pristine whiteness.

The Maverick Trail is a motorized vehicle trail used by off-road motorcycles, ATVs, and OHVs in the summer and snowmobiles and OHVs in the winter. Roughly 60 miles in length, the trail opened between Clay Springs and Pinetop-Lakeside in 2010. For the most part, it is rugged and hard-packed terrain.

The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest is home to many animals for which permits are issued to hunt including elk, deer, antelope, javelina, bear, turkey, sheep, mountain lion, squirrel, and various waterfowl.

The Arizona Game & Fish Department schedules seasons for each type of game, permits and a hunting license are required. The Apache tribe schedules hunts on Indian lands and their seasons may differ. The tribe issues permits and licenses for hunting on the reservation.

There are more than 100 designated camping or RV parking areas in the White Mountains region—from lakeside densely populated camp areas to remote, primitive campgrounds. Whether you’re camping for the night or the season, you have numerous options in climate and landscape.

Though the White Mountains weather is typically 20 to 30 degrees cooler than the desert valleys—or more in the winters—campers enjoy our area year-round. Cross-country skiers and backpackers hike snow-packed trails to reach the solitude afforded by high-country camping.

The White Mountains area has dozens of event locales, whether you have in mind something old, something new, something beautiful, or something blue—such as our gorgeous White Mountains lakes and skies!

Every event is special, and we know your venue must be too. Between the White Mountains towns of Alpine, Eagar, Greer, Pinetop-Lakeside, Show Low, Snowflake, Springerville, and Taylor, you have so many choices it’s impossible to count.