Tonto National Forest, National forest in central Arizona, United States.
Tonto National Forest spans five counties across central Arizona, transitioning from low-lying desert scrub to high-elevation pine forests at different elevations. The forest offers over 900 miles of trails, eight wilderness areas, six reservoirs, and numerous campgrounds throughout its vast landscape.
The forest was established as a reserve in 1905 and granted official National Forest status two years later. This federal protection helped secure the region's natural resources from uncontrolled exploitation.
The name Tonto comes from Spanish, meaning "foolish". The forest lies within the traditional lands of the San Carlos Apache, who consider 2,422 acres near the proposed Resolution Copper mine sacred; 57 member tribes of The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians oppose the 2015 land swap.
Ranger district offices in Globe, Mesa, Payson, Roosevelt, Scottsdale and Young provide trail information; headquarters are in Phoenix. Elevations run from 1,400 feet in the Sonoran Desert to 7,400 feet on the Mogollon Rim, so lower trails are hot in summer while higher ground can be affected in winter. The forest borders the Phoenix metropolitan area to the south and the San Carlos and Fort Apache reservations to the east.
The Bush Fire started on June 13, 2020, in the Tonto Basin and burned 193,455 acres, making it Arizona's fifth-largest fire on record. Investigators determined it was human-caused, not natural. It was contained by July 1, after which the Forest Service began a Burned Area Emergency Response assessment for rehabilitation.
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