It seems to be a new tradition for me to start my semesters in college off with an adventure with my friends Lacy and Ian. Last fall I hiked the Bob Bear Trail, last spring I visited Kingman and Oatman, Arizona, and this fall I spent the day in Payson, Arizona. I love that this has become a new tradition for me because it allows me to start my new semester on such a high note, and leaves me hungry for more adventures as the semester goes on.

In this blog, you’ll learn about 8 different places near Payson, Arizona to add to your next day trip itinerary from Phoenix!

Rise & Shine

We started our day around 6am. The drive to Lacy’s place was beautiful because it had just rained the night before, so the smell of fresh rain lingered, and I saw a mesmerizing sunrise along the way. We had a very busy day scheduled for us so we had to leave as the sun was waking up!

We fueled our adventure at the Pinon Cafe in Payson, Arizona. Here, I ordered their Power Cakes, which were blueberry and granola pancakes. What really stole the show was their enormous cinnamon roll that could probably feed a small village. This cinnamon roll had a rich cream cheese and buttery finish that left me wanting more. After we had enough to eat, we started exploring.

Payson Farmer’s Market

Our first stop of the day was at the Payson Farmers Market, which is located just across the street from the Pinon Cafe. They pride themselves on being a locavore market, where all of the food sold is sourced within 100 miles of Payson and sold directly to the customer.

As I walked towards the farmers market from the parking lot, I immediately started to smell the fire roasted chilis from Silly Chilies. I love green chilis so I was super excited to try freshly roasted ones. I tried their medium chilis and they definitely had a kick to them. I want to go back and try their jalapeños!

Next to Silly Chilies was a lady selling homemade pasta, and when you boiled the pasta, it created its own sauce. I wish I bought the pasta because I’m craving it right now!

My favorite stand at the market was owned by a man named Boyd who sold jams, jellies, and fruit butters. 112 different flavors of jams, jellies, and fruit butters to be exact! He made these products with so many different fruits, like strawberry, mango, pear, pineapple, peach, and more. I picked the strawberry mango jam and it was probably the best jam I’ve had. Be sure to visit Boyd’s Farm when you make a trip for the Payson Farmers Market!

The Town of Strawberry

Next up on our itinerary was to visit Tonto Natural Bridge State Park, however they had a delayed opening due to the flood the day before. So, we decided to pass the time by driving to the town next-door, Strawberry. The first time I had been to Strawberry was almost exactly one year ago, when I went with Lacy, Ian, and some of our friends to hike the Bob Bear Trail. Driving through the town brought back memories of the pie I was craving throughout the whole hike!

This happened to be one of my favorite parts of the day because we did so many little things within an hour.

First, we saw a sign for the oldest standing school in Arizona so we decided to check it out. The oldest standing school in Arizona is found down Fossil Creek Road, right off of the main road in Strawberry. This school was built in 1885 out of beautiful pine logs and only has one room, the classroom. It was running for almost a century until they turned it into a historical museum in 1981. I believe they have tours available for the school, but none were running that day. For information on their tours, click this link. Next to the school was an outhouse that reminded me of the outhouse from Shrek because it had a crescent moon on it! This was such a unique piece of history to enjoy!

Next, we visited the Strawberry Inn, located on AZ 87, the main road in town. We didn’t go inside the inn because there was plenty to do right outside. Just outside the entrance to the inn was a community library called “The Little Free Library” where you can leave or take a book. I didn’t have a book to leave but I decided to pick up Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shore because the cover was pretty and I love a good romance novel. After I finish it, I’m going to donate it at the next community library I come across!

Next to the Strawberry Inn is Windmill Coffee, which is a local coffee shop inside of a windmill. How cool is that? I tried their chai latte with oat milk and it was very tasty. They even used crushed ice (which for some reason is superior to any other ice).

As we drank our chai and coffees, we enjoyed ladder ball and Jenga outside of the Strawberry Inn.

We still had some time before Tonto Natural Bridge opened so we visited a lavender farm just up the road from the Strawberry Inn. The lavender farm is known as Pine Creek Canyon Lavender Farm. Here, you can learn how to incorporate lavender in recipes with their very own cooking and baking courses, you can shop for your self or loved ones at their gift shop, and most importantly you can relax as you are surrounded by the calming scent of lavender. I hope I can go back soon to try out one of their cooking courses!

Tonto Natural Bridge State Park

Finally, it was time to go to Tonto Natural Bridge! Tonto Natural Bridge is a very accessible natural arch that you can view from above or by hiking beneath it. This bridge is known as the “largest natural travertine bridge” in the world! I had visited this bridge two years ago in my freshman year of college and we took the Anna Mae trail, however that trail was closed this time around so we took the Gowan Trail. I really liked the Gowan trail, it was pretty steep so I wouldn’t recommend it if you have difficulty walking. However at the end of the Gowan Trail, it leads you to a bridge that brings you close to the arch. If you’re lucky, there may be a waterfall sprinkling off of the bridge! It’s such an amazing feeling as you stand beneath Tonto Natural Bridge. The structure is humongous, 183 feet tall to be exact, and standing underneath it makes you feel so tiny!

Rancho Catch-A-Trout

Our next stop of the day was at Rancho Catch-a-Trout in Payson. Here, you can rent fishing poles and use bait for free as you fish for trout in their pond. You pay as you catch, and the cost is $1 + $1 per inch. You have to pay for each fish you catch, there is no catch and release. This is a fun activity for the whole family as it is very accessible. They even have grills to cook your fresh catch and ramadas to hang out under afterwards!

The Mogollon Rim

Our last stop of the day was visiting the Mogollon Rim! It probably took me the whole day to learn how to say Mogollon. At first I thought it was pronounced “mog-o-lon” but it’s actually pronounced “moo-gee-yun” with a hard g.

There’s many spots along the Mogollon Rim where you can get out and admire the view. The Mogollon Rim is vast, as it reaches all the way from Yavapi County into New Mexico, over 200 miles and 2,000 feet deep! We stopped at the Mogollon Rim Visitor Center so we could learn a little bit more about the magnificent view in front of us. What I really liked about the visitor center, was that they had a sign with all of the large mountain ranges you can see in the distance on a clear day. The best way to describe the Mogollon Rim is it is a much greener version of the Grand Canyon, with out the canyons of course.

There are many ways you can enjoy the Mogollon Rim. You can hike along side of it, you can go biking, horse back riding, and even rock climbing. But you aren’t limited to just exercising, you can even go fishing, boating, and stargazing. The Mogollon Rim was a breathtaking view and I highly recommend visiting it!

Thank you for reading, I hoped you learned something new! Exploring Payson and it’s surrounding towns was so much fun and I definitely recommend making a day trip up there. There is so much to see and experience, and I can’t wait to go back!

Huge shoutout to Lacy and Ian from Wildjoy Experiences for bringing me on this day trip!!

Addresses

Stop 1: Pinon Cafe
1001 S Beeline Highway, Payson, AZ 85541

Stop 2: Payson Farmer’s Market
816 S Beeline Highway, Payson, AZ 85541

Stop 3: The Oldest Standing Schoolhouse in Arizona
5090 North Walnut Drive, Pine, Arizona

Stop 4: The Strawberry Inn
5073 Arizona Highway 87, Strawberry, AZ 85544

Stop 5: Pine Creek Canyon Lavender Farm
4223 North Pine Creek Canyon Road, Pine, AZ 85544

Stop 6: Tonto Natural Bridge State Park
USFS Road 583A, Payson, AZ 85541

Stop #7: Rancho Catch-a-Trout
2097 Forest Service Road, Payson, AZ 85541

Stop 8: Mogollon Rim
Rim Road, Payson, AZ 85541