Here, at nearly nine thousand feet, is Hannagan Meadow — a beautiful, hushed mountain meadow ringed by dark spruce forest, with a historic log lodge that's been welcoming travelers on this lonely road for a century. This is about as remote and peaceful as Arizona gets, and it's the gateway to some of the wildest country left in the Lower Forty-Eight: just east of here lies the Blue Range Primitive Area, hundreds of thousands of acres of roadless mountain wilderness, and the heart of the country where the Mexican gray wolf runs free again. If you can, stop at the lodge for a coffee or a meal; there's precious little else for a long way in either direction. Boone's got a tale from these very woods that changed how a whole nation thinks about wild places. Stay with US-191 through here as the highway bends and a forest road branches off to the side — keep to the main paved route and it carries you on toward the high country. Heads up through here: the road hairpins back on itself in tight switchbacks — take them slow, hug your lane, and use the pullouts to let anyone behind you go by.
Photo: Coconino National Forest · CC0