The first time I saw the Mogollon Rim was in the summer of 1981. We had just moved to Scottsdale that winter, and when the temperature soared past 110 degrees, we headed for the pines. Back then, the journey to Payson took 2 hours. Today, it’s all divided highway and takes only an hour after you pass through Fountain Hills. Payson is the first town you come to. It’s sort of the gateway to the National Forest and tall pines that crown our beautiful state. Payson is the intersection of Highway 89 and 260, which follows the Rim for another 80 miles to Show Low and Pinetop in the White Mountain.
The Rim is home to many eastern transplants. The most famous of which was Zane Grey, a dentist by profession who authored 60 westerns in the early years of the 20th century. As we drove east from Payson on 260, we saw a sign that said, “Zane Grey’s Cabin”, with an arrow pointing north. We turned off and followed the narrow, paved road for about ten miles, and there it was. We parked in the lot and climbed the steps to the porch. The air was cool and sweet, the sign on the door said, “Please Come In”.
A very elderly gentleman greeted us and asked that we not touch anything. It was a single-room structure about 25 feet on each side. There was a stove and sleeping area, and the authors’ writing desk. The walls were decorated with book covers and photographs. One was of a bear up a tree, obviously a big event in this otherwise quiet country. Not far away was Tonto Creek, and further up the road was the Forest Service Fishery, which spawned thousands of trout for eventual release into the creek.
Zane Grey’s cabin burned to the ground in 1990 and has since been duplicated as a museum in Payson. What I didn’t know at the time was that further downstream, south of the 260, was the community of Bear Flat. Remote, pristine, teeming with elk and wildlife, Bear Flat is a community of about 30 homes – some big, some small – owned by folks who seek the ambience of Bear Flat.
There are no stores but there are several fishing holes along the creek. Some of the homes have meadows. A few have horses. There is one road in, one road out, and it is one-lane, hard-packed dirt maintained by the U.S. Forest Service. It’s the kind of road you wave and smile as you pull the right and squeeze by oncoming traffic, of which there is often none.
My first trip to Bear Flat was in my Mustang, and it was slow going, but an SUV with bigger tires can glide along at 20 to 25 miles an hour. The turn off is 13 miles from Payson, it’s clearly marked, and then about six miles of adventure after that. Oh, there are a couple of hairpin turns, a stretch around a mountain, and a creek crossing, but when you arrive, you are truly transported to the Rim Country of Zane Grey, and folks who like it that way.
– Joseph