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1.START-END NORTH:jct US160 - Az174, Springerville 2.prfile turns onto Ax261 from Az260 3.TOP, 9320ft 4.jct with Az274, profile stays on Ax261 4.turnoff to Big Lake Lookout 6.START-END SOUTH:jct Az281-US191.just morth of Alpine

Approaches

From North. The profile starts where Main Street in Springerville begins its long extended car shopping Boulevard towards Eagan. Compared with other American  western mid size towns, this road is straight like so many others, but has a much more relaxed feel to it. Turning onto Az260, the turnoff is not really signed, and the grade still barely noticeable.

"Big Lake Junction" figures prominently on signs. It seems to me, that there are at least 3 junctions in this area, that this applies to. At this particular one, the climbing really starts. Big Lake is a ubiquitos goal for great cycling routes in this part of Arizona. After a thousand feet of climbing, the first far views onto swarms of shallow cinder cones appear on the high dessert floor towards the north. It becomes obvious, that the White Mountains are not only a large lava capped mesa, but it surrounding valleys also include swarms of these circular hills. They give the landscape below a repeated pattern, that seems to go on to the horizon. Soon the first lava caprocks appear, crowned by needle trees with ample space between them. In spite of the climbing Springerville seems more far away than far below. Surprisingly, we have already climbed more than half of the elevation, at the point where a formal viewpoint "Point of the Mountains" points out the names of the various cinder cones in the distance. From here it is goodbye rocky rim, hello needly forest. But this too passes, where the road breaks out into an almost prarie like, rolling grass-scape and crests a shallow summit.

From South. (described downwards). There is a large variety of routes to choose from on the way down. Many involve good gravel roads. The first of them appears just a short distance past the summit. After an extended joyride on the grassy rollers, you reach a T junction. Going right here continues the scenic journey on the White Mountain Road, For that option the actual summit is still ahead, only about 100ft higher than the point described on this page. The dip between the two is only about 200ft.

And since this page is about making Az261 the summit (instead of Az273), the profile stays left at this T junction, and continues past Crescent Lake and Big Lake in the distance. This state road becomes a National Forest Road and surprisingly remains paved all the way through to Alpine. Other gravel options exist to make the loop back towards the northern approach a little shorter. One of them was my dayride below and is shown in the profile. There is a link to a komoot page (with map and more) at the bottom of the page.