Peaks and monsoon clouds from Mormon Lake

Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Generally consisting of

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

, Coconino, Mohave,

Navajo The Navajo or Diné are an Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Diné populations are Arizona (140,263) and New Mexico (1 ...

, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the southern border of which in Arizona is called the

Mogollon Rim The Mogollon Rim ( or or ) is a topography, topographical and geological feature cutting across Northern Arizona, the northern half of the U.S. state of Arizona. It extends approximately , starting in northern Yavapai County, Arizona, Yavapa ...

Demographics

Flagstaff is the largest city in northern Arizona. Other cities include Sedona,

Page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

, Prescott, Payson, and Williams. Much of the territory is National Forest Service land, parkland, or other BLM-administered lands. In the north-east are large

Hopi The Hopi are Native Americans who primarily live in northeastern Arizona. The majority are enrolled in the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona; however, some Hopi people are enrolled in the Colorado ...

and

reservations, parts of which overlap, leading to occasional territorial disputes. Native Americans make up 48% of the population in Coconino County, Navajo County, and Apache County. Ruins of the ancient Anasazi, Sinagua, and other Puebloan people can be found in northern Arizona. Most Northern Arizona University students are Arizonans, with 66% being Arizona residents.

Geography

The region features several mountain ranges, including the state's highest, the San Francisco Peaks. It also contains most of the state's natural lakes. In the east lies the White Mountain range. The

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

is in the west. The central portion of northern Arizona has the Painted Desert. The area is known for its rugged landscape and variety of environment. Northern Arizona is home to millions of acres of ponderosa pine,

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...

, and mixed-conifer forests, including the largest ponderosa pine forest in North America. Attractions in addition to the Grand Canyon include Monument Valley,

Canyon de Chelly Canyon de Chelly National Monument ( ) was established on April 1, 1931, as a unit of the National Park Service. Located in northeastern Arizona, it is within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and lies in the Four Corners region. Reflecting ...

, the Painted Desert, and Meteor Crater. The major highway is

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

(roughly following the historic Route 66) which connects the larger cities of this region. Northern Arizona also goes by the name ''Alta Arizona'', which means "Upper Arizona" in Spanish. Northern Arizona has a large Mormon population, with a temple in

Snowflake A snowflake is a single ice crystal that is large enough to fall through the Earth's atmosphere as snow.Knight, C.; Knight, N. (1973). Snow crystals. Scientific American, vol. 228, no. 1, pp. 100–107.Hobbs, P.V. 1974. Ice Physics. Oxford: C ...

. Northern Arizona consists of five different counties: * Mohave County *

Coconino County Coconino County is a County (United States), county in the North Central Arizona, North-Central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff, Arizon ...

* Navajo County * Apache County * Yavapai County Northern Arizona has various points of interest. The area is known for its variety of outdoor recreation opportunities, hiking trails and forest service roads, extreme topographical and environmental variability, and its geologic and human history. The following is a list of popular attractions in northern Arizona. ;National Parks and Monuments *

Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyo ...

* Petrified Forest National Park * Canyon de Chelly National Monument * Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument * Navajo National Monument * Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument * Walnut Canyon National Monument * Wupatki National Monument * Vermillion Cliffs National Monument ;Natural attractions * Monument Valley * Painted Desert * Oak Creek Canyon * Slide Rock State Park * San Francisco Peaks * Red Rock Country * Lava River Cave * San Francisco Volcanic Field * Window Rock * Antelope Canyon ;Other attractions * Arizona Snowbowl * Lowell Observatory * Grand Canyon Railway * Museum of Northern Arizona * Northern Arizona University *

Four Corners Monument The Four Corners Monument marks the quadripoint in the Southwestern United States where the U.S. state, states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet. It is the only point in the United States shared by four states, leading to the area ...

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

Subregions

Northeast Arizona

Northeast Arizona commonly includes Apache County and Navajo County. Some notable

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s there are St. Johns, Eagar, Holbrook, Show Low, Winslow, Window Rock, Fort Defiance, Ganado, Chinle, and Kayenta. It is the location of several

Indian reservations An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

including all of the Zuni Indian Reservation and most parts of the Hopi Reservation, the

Navajo Nation The Navajo Nation (), also known as Navajoland, is an Indian reservation of Navajo people in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, and southeastern Utah. The seat of government is located in ...

, and the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. The rugged desert landscape of Northeast Arizona has been inhabited by

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

since at least the construction of what are now the ruins at Monument Valley, Navajo National Monument, and Canyon de Chelly National Monument. Northeast Arizona is arid, largely free of greenery, and characterized by hills, mesas, buttes, cliffs, and canyons. The windy stony plains of the Petrified Forest National Park exhibits parts of the barren colorful Painted Desert as well as preserved Native American

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s. Northeast Arizona is also home to the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and

North central Arizona

Arizona Strip

The Arizona Strip is the segment of Arizona to the north of the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

. Geographically isolated from the rest of the state, it has fewer than 10,000 people.

References

{{Coord, 33.5, -112.9, display=title Geography of Arizona