oldhiways.com Apache County

Southern

Apache
County Nature
Areas
by R. P. Robertsen

Table of Contents
Excerpts
Updates
Errata

A reader-friendly account of the animals, plants and geography of the vast open landscape spanning east-central Arizona.
Tours of highways through the area, starting at historic Route 66 (I-40).
Educational, detailed, essential reading for the eco-tourist, the student, or native resident.

Paperback - 5.25" X 8.5" - 104 pages
published 1999, updates below
$7.95 postpaid!
Map - b & w photos - Index - species lists

To order: send $7.95 in check or money order to:
red GK, p. o. box 729, st. johns, AZ 85936

(money order payment shipped in a day, otherwise allow time for check to clear)

or use the order form

Apache National Forest, Big Lake Forest Camp, 1941, from page 36 of the book.

C O N T E N T S
The Experience of Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     6
I. The Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .     7
               Some Unexpected Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   11
II. Life Zones   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   15
               Check List of Life Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
               Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
               Mineral Resources (Water) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
III.Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
               Holbrook to St. Johns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
               Sanders to St. Johns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   26
               St. Johns to Show Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
               St. Johns to Springerville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
               Springerville to Alpine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   34
IV. View Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
               Big Lake . . . . . . . . . . 37 Raven Site . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
               Black River . . . . . . . . 38   Sipe Area . . . . . . . . . . . .   49
               Butler Canyon . . . . .   39   South Fork. . . . . . . . . . . . 50
               Casa Malpais . . . . . .   39 Triassic Park. . . . . . . . . . .   51
               Escudilla Mt . . . . . . .   40 Wenima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
               Lyman Lake . . . . . . . 42 White Mt.Trails . . . . . . . .   53
               Mount Baldy . . . . . . . 44 Williams Valley . . . . . . . .    54
               Zion Res . . . . . . . . . . 54
V. Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
               Forest Evergreens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
               Woodland Evergreens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
               Broadleaf Trees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   62
VI. Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   65
               Pronghorn . . . . . . . . . 65 Prairie Dog . . . . . . . . . . . .   70
               Apache Trout . . . . . . . 66 Harvester Ant. . . . . . . . . . . 71
               Black Bear . . . . . . . . . . 68 Spinedace . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
               Coyote . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Elk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    74
               Horned Owl . . . . . . . . 70 Meadowlark . . . . . . . . . . .   74
VII. Land Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   75
               Riparian Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   78
               Land Use Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    79
APPENDIX A. Map of So. Apache County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    85
APPENDIX B. Species Checklists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    88
BIBLIOGRAPHY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    97
Illustration Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   100
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   102

Quotations from the book:
“When a colony constructs a labyrinth of underground passages, strangely, its entrance hole is almost always on the east or ESE side of the mound, as if the ants have some affinity for the morning sun. According to Navajo folklore, the ancient people, who could speak a language in common with animals, learned from harvester ants to always place the doorway of a home facing east.” —p.72

“Now, electric generation seems to be another industry in decline. The low price of oil and government deregulation of the industry have caused cancellation of expansion plans and layoffs among the workforce.” —p. 76

     “Aspen will quickly reforest areas where conifers have been clearcut or burned out, and then the original, slower-growing evergreens will eventually return. During the first week of summer in 1951 fire burned off much of Escudilla Mountain . . .   A young aspen forest with individuals of 20-40 feet in height now occupies the burned area. . . .      —p. 62
road thru aspens 1938
Apache National Forest road through aspens, 1938, from page 56 of the book.

updated information
Since Apache County Nature Areas was published in 1999 some changes have taken place.
page 42 Lyman Lake
     Facilities for campers have been improved at Lyman Lake State Park, with the addition of yurts and cabins for rental and other improvements to camp sites.
page 43 Lyman Lake buffalo
     The cost of maintaining buffalo (not indigenous to this area) could not be justified and the animals were sold for slaughter, with the exception of one female that was relocated.
page 48 Raven Site
Since Southern Apache County Nature Areas was published, Raven Site (p. 48) has closed, and visitors can no longer access the ruin. The excavated area was filled with dirt for preservation and protection and the Sherwood Ranch was sold to private owners. Part of the butterfly collection that had been exhibited at Raven Site museum is displayed at Casa Malpais Museum in Springerville.
page 54 Zion Dam
     As the author related, Zion Dam will remain breached and Zion Reservoir will remain dry in order to restore the Zuni tribal wetlands just downstream at Hunt.
New nature trails
     Two nature trails at Becker Lake Wildlife Area were completed in 2005. Both are short and easy going. Lakeview Trail is a one mile loop that begins and ends near the boat ramp (about 2 miles west of the traffic light in Springerville on US Highway 60). The trail follows the lake shore to an observation platform near the marshy side of the lake. River Walk Trail meanders along the east bank of the Little Colorado River, beginning from a gravel parking lot off Highway 60 about a mile from the traffic light, just before the highway crosses the river.
     White Mountain Grasslands, about five miles west of Eagar, offers the possibility of sighting birds and mammals along a 2.6-mile loop trail. Maps are available from Arizona Game and Fish Department, Springerville-Eagar Regional Chamber of Commerce and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Springerville ranger station.
Where to get maps & current information when visiting southern Apache County
     Petrified Forest Museum Association operates two gift shop/bookstores. One is located at Holbrook Chamber of Commerce visitors center in the historic former Navajo County Courthouse (1898) museum at 100 East Arizona Street in downtown Holbrook (bordered by Navajo Boulevard on the west side). The other is located at Painted Desert Visitor Center, just outside the north fee entrance gate for Petrified Forest National Park, just off Interstate-40 at Exit 311, 22 miles east of Holbrook. See: www.gotouraz.com/holbrook    or:   www.cybertrails.com/~pfma/
     St. Johns Regional Chamber of Commerce operates a visitors center at the Apache County Museum, 180 West Cleveland Street in St. Johns, the Apache County seat. See: www.stjohnschamber.com
     Springerville-Eagar Regional Chamber of Commerce shares a gift shop/bookstore with the Casa Malpais Museum at 418 East Main Street in Springerville, behind the Police Department and Town Hall in the historic former elementary school building. See: www.springerville-eagarchamber.com
     You are welcome to email queries to this website at redgk@oldhiways.com
Southern
Apache County
Nature Areas               by R. P. Robertsen

discover a new world or your own backyard
get your copy of Southern Apache County Nature Areas
5½“ X 8½” u paperback u perfect bound u 104 pages u 18 b/w photos
bibliography u index u 2 maps u list of towns u species checklists

The first book ever published describing the natural history and geography of southern Apache County, Arizona is also a book that describes the plants, ani-mals and land forms found throughout northern Arizona and neighboring states. The ponderosa pine forest, the short grass prairie, coyote, black bear and mead-owlark, ubiquitous throughout the Rocky Mountain West, are identified in detail in the pages of Southern Apache County Nature Areas by R. P. Robertsen.

If you are visiting Apache county for the first time, or if you have lived here for many years, this book will show you where you can see the plants and animals and experience the sounds and colors of this vast unhindered landscape. Have you ever visited the Wenima marshes or seen the view of Escudilla Mountain from the historic Sipe ranch? Have you trudged through the snow of Williams Valley, or discovered the proliferation of birds along the Little Colorado River?

Published in 1999, Southern Apache County Nature Areas by R. P. Robertsen features chapters on the geography and life zones, auto tours, the developed view points, and an outline of some of the trees and animals common in the area. The uncommon Apache trout and Little Colorado Spinedace are identified. And there is an extensive species checklist, giving Latin names for all the fishes and mammals and listing the most common birds and plants.
Southern Apache County Nature Areas by R. P. Robertsen is available at many local bookstores for $7.95, or by mail (postage paid) from the publisher:

    red GK
    p.o.box 729
    st. johns, arizona 85936

E r r a t a OOPS! We have found some errors in Southern Apache County Nature Areas.
      Mary Bast of White Mountain Lodge in Greer wrote to inform us that the directions on page 39, leading visitors to the Butler Canyon Nature Area, are outdated. Our editor, Robert Lucas visited Butler Canyon September 4, 1999 and enjoyed the lush surroundings of the old growth timber there.
     He found the nature trail has not moved, but the Greer campground no longer exists and every trace of it has been obliterated. The trailhead is located 0.1 mile from Ariz. Highway 373, off Apache County road 1121, which is also Forest Road 79.
     Ms. Bast, while finding our book “just right for someone interested in a light reading on the area,” took issue with the author’s description of crowding along the Little Colorado, in summer, south of Greer. “I have lived in Greer for over seven years,” writes Ms. Bast, “and walk that road many, many times during the summer. I have seen between zero and six cars parked in the three available parking areas and, at most, only a handful of people along that stretch of river.” Ms. Bast now lives in the Valley, but continues to contribute to the Greer community.     Thank you! We appreciate letters from readers.
             Here are other errors we have found:
     Frontispiece map: Gobbler Peak is mislocated. It’s closer to Alpine.
     Contents: spelling error "Acknowledgments."
     Page 26: Sanders should be capitalized.
     Page 85: Puerco Ridge is Spanish for “pig ridge.”
                    “Cochino” means “filthy like a pig.”

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