Lake and Pond Fishing Areas

• Nogales Ranger District
  

  The Santa Ritas are topped by 9.453 foot Mt. Wrightson, which is surrounded by the 25,260 acre Wilderness area of the same name.  Madera Canyon in the Santa Ritas is famous among birdwatchers the world over.  A number of Forest roads, including the Madera Canyon Road, provide access to campgrounds, picnic areas, boating and dozens of forest trails.

  Pena Blanca Lake, at the edge of the Atascosas, offers developed campgrounds, picnic areas and fishing for stocked and resident species.

  The Pajaritos are home to scenic Sycamore Canyon, the 7,420 acre Pajarita Wilderness and a history of mining boomtowns and hardy pioneers.

  Ranger	Phone	Address
  Marlon Avantyr (District Ranger)	(520) 281-2296 FAX: (520) 281-2396	303 Old Tucson Rd. Nogales, AZ 85621

• Tumacacori Mountains

  Mountain range within the Nogales Ranger District which lies just west of Interstate 19 and extends southward to the International border.

• Pena Blanca Lake
• Safford Ranger District
  

  This recreation area is the home of the Coronado's most extensive mountain range, the Pinaleños, and topped by the highest peak in southern Arizona, 10,720 foot Mt. Graham.  A scenic road named the Swift Trail (Hwy 366) leads into these unique mountains and provides access to campgrounds, Forest trails, and fishing at Riggs Lake.

  The Safford Recreation Area is also home to the Galiuro Mountains and the Santa Teresa Range.  The 76,317 acre Galiuro Wilderness is steeped in history and contains an extensive trail network.

  The Santa Teresas are rugged and remote, with a variety of primitive trails leading into a 26,780 acre Wilderness (area is unavailable).

  Ranger	Phone	Address
  Detailed District Ranger (District Ranger)	(928) 428-4150 FAX: (928) 428-2393	711 14th Avenue, Suite D Safford, AZ 85546

• Pinaleño Mountains

  The Pinaleño Mountains, capped by 10,720-ft. Mount Graham, are the tallest of southeastern Arizona’s sky island mountain ranges. State Route 366, also known as the Swift Trail Parkway, offers easy access into this beautiful mountain range. The route climbs more than 7,000 feet over 35 miles and offers incredible views of the surrounding landscape. The first 22 miles are paved; the last 13 miles are dirt and require a high-clearance vehicle.

  The Pinaleños rise like a forested island out of a sea of desert. Ascending this mountain is the ecological equivalent of traveling from Mexico to Canada in just a few short hours. Varied biotic communities, layered in life zones, provide ideal habitat for a diverse array of plants and animals, including endemic species found nowhere else in the world. The uppermost life zone is home to relic species from the last ice age, including the southernmost stand of Englemann spruce in the United States. High elevation meadows, cool forests, groves of aspen, perennial streams, and an alpine lake make for an enchanting escape from the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts below.

  Numerous picnic areas, campgrounds, and hiking trails are accessed along the Swift Trail Parkway. Scroll down for a list of recreation opportunities.

• Frye Mesa Reservoir Lakes
• Riggs Flat Lake
• Santa Catalina Ranger District
  

  Located adjacent to Tucson, the Santa Catalina Ranger District is the most heavily visited part of the Coronado National Forest. The Catalina Highway (Sky Island Scenic Byway) winds nearly to the top of 9,157 foot Mt. Lemmon, providing paved access to trailheads, campgrounds, picnic areas and a ski area. The Santa Catalinas are also home to Sabino Canyon and the 56,933 acre Pusch Ridge Wilderness area.

  For information about road conditions on Mount Lemmon Highway call 520-547-7510.

  For information about the Sabino Canyon Shuttle: Sabino Canyon Crawler

  For information about concession-operated campgrounds:

  • Spencer Canyon Campground 520-576-1492. 
  • Rose Canyon Lake Campground 520-576-1325 
  • Whitetail Campground 520-576-9198. 
  • Showers Point Campground 520-314-0069.

  You can reserve campsite and/or group areas at these sites at Recreation.gov. Please note that InterAgency and Coronado National Forest passes are not valid at these sites.

  For information on guided nature walks, hikes, children's programs, family activities, and school field trips: go to Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists.

  Ranger	Phone	Address
  Don DelMastro (District Ranger)	(520) 749-8700 FAX: (520) 749-7723	5700 N. Sabino Canyon Rd. Tucson, AZ 85750

• Santa Catalina Mountains

  Welcome to the Santa Catalina Mountains, one of the premier natural areas in southeastern Arizona. The elevation ranges from 2,724 ft. in Sabino Canyon to 9,157 ft. at the top of Mt. Lemmon.The lowland desert as well as the high pine forest offers settings for a variety of recreation opportunities including hiking, biking, rock climbing, skiing, and camping

  Outstanding scenery  features steep rock cliffs and foothills covered with unique desert vegetation adjacent to riparian corridors.

• Rose Canyon Lake
• Sierra Vista Ranger District
  

  The Sierra Vista Ranger District includes several mountain ranges which are separated by rolling hill county and some of the Southwest’s most extensive grasslands. The area includes the Huachuca, Patagonia and Whetstone mountains and the Canelo Hills. These areas were once the focus of extensive mining activity and their canyons and ridges are rich in the history of those colorful days. An extensive network of trails provides access to the Huachuca Mountains and to the 20,190 acre Miller Peak Wilderness. In Ramsey Canyon, where miners once sluiced, blasted and tunneled for gold and silver, birdwatchers have found a gentler bonanza. A number of scenic drives cross the area;s broad grasslands and anglers find their reward in Parker Canyon Lake, where stocked trout, as well as other species, challenge fishermen.

  Ranger	Phone	Address
  Celeste “Daisy” Kinsey (District Ranger)	(520) 378-0311 FAX: (520) 378-0519	4070 S. Avenida Saracino Hereford, AZ 85615

• Canelo Hills

  Historic ranching and mining country with broad grasslands and distant buttes provides the setting for this medium-length loop drive. The route starts out in the little ranching community of Sonoita and winds south through a series of grassy, oak-dotted canyons along Arizona Route 83 to the intersection with Forest Road 799. This junction actually marks the beginning of this scenic drive. At this point, the drive turns west and begins climbing into the Canelo Hills. Canelo means cinnamon-colored in Spanish.

  After topping Canelo Pass, as quickly as you got into the hills, you're out of them, and the scenery changes dramatically. The road turns, the trees open up, and an extensive rolling grassland stretches to the south into Mexico and well to the north, toward the Santa Rita Mountains and the Santa Catalinas near Tucson. In the distance, landmarks such as Indian Head Butte and Saddle Mountain slide in front of one another as you move across the vast grassy plateau.

  Enjoy these views while you can because totally without warning the road drops into a series of oak-filled canyons cut into these southern Arizona slopes. Suddenly the views can be measured in hundreds of feet instead of scores of miles. The route then continues its way through these canyons toward the old mining settlements along Harshaw Creek and the drive ends in the picturesque mining, ranching, and tourist town of Patagonia.

  This area is a very popular gravel mountain biking area. 

• Parker Canyon Lake

   

  

   

  This medium-sized 130 acre lake is located in the Canelo Hills west of the Huachuca Mountains.

  It offers a number of recreational possibilities for those willing to drive the long, paved roads that lead to it. For those who like to fish, Parker Canyon Lake offers both cold and warm water species, including rainbow trout, longmouth bass, sunfish, and channel catfish. There is a fishing pier and a paved boat ramp at the lake, as well as a lakeside paved area and a graveled path along some of the best catfishing shoreline. There is also a concessionaire-operated country store at the lakeshore where you can pick up some last minute supplies, buy a fishing license, or rent a boat. Bird watchers and just plain nature lovers will also find much to enjoy at Parker Canyon Lake. A five mile trail leads around the shoreline never getting more than a few steps from the water. The Parker Lakeshore Trail offers excellent vantage points from which to enjoy the ducks and other waterfowl that are invariably bobbing on the lake’s clear waters. Some of those points even have benches and interpretive signs. Bald eagles and osprey are regularly sighted in this area, as are spring warblers and hummingbirds in season. Coues whitetail deer can frequently be seen browsing among the oaks and grasses that surround the lake and in the two campgrounds near its shores. Coatimundi, javelina, and roadrunners, three animals that are about as southwestern as you can get, make occasional appearances as well. Parking for vehicles, motor homes, boat trailers.

  Accessible by passenger car. Fish available include trout, bass, catfish, and panfish. You can fish from a boat or a fishing pier. Boat ramp available.

  Download the Parker Canyon Lake Visitor Guide in English.

  Descarga la guía del visitante en español a Parker Canyon Lake.

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• Lakeview Campground