Prescott National Forest OHV
The Prescott National Forest encompasses 1.25 million acres of the Arizona Central Highlands in Yavapai and Maricopa counties: the mountain terrain that separates the low Sonoran Desert of the Phoenix basin from the high Colorado Plateau of northern Arizona, centered on the Bradshaw Mountains, the Mingus Mountain massif of the Black Hills, and the Sierra Prieta range that frames Prescott on three sides. The OHV trail system operates on designated routes throughout the forest's Bradshaw and Verde Ranger Districts, providing the closest high-country riding terrain for the Phoenix metropolitan area, five million people approximately 90 miles to the south, and serving the Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, and Camp Verde markets directly. The Bradshaw Mountains south of Prescott provide the primary OHV terrain: a rugged mid-elevation range of granite and schist reaching elevations of 7,900 feet at Mount Union, with the designated OHV routes threading through the chaparral, pinyon-juniper, and ponderosa pine forest zones that stack with increasing elevation on the mountain flanks. The forest's chaparral zone (the dense shrub community of manzanita, mountain mahogany, scrub oak, and silk-tassle), defines the lower-elevation riding character between 4,500 and 6,000 feet, transitioning to the open ponderosa pine forest above that creates the cool, park-like riding environment that makes Prescott a summer refuge from Phoenix heat. Mingus Mountain in the Black Hills east of Prescott reaches 7,815 feet above the Verde Valley below, and the forest roads and OHV trails on the Mingus summit and its approaches provide a second, distinct riding zone accessible from the Cottonwood and Jerome gateways on the Verde Valley floor. Arizona OHV decal required. Bradshaw Ranger District at Prescott (928-443-8000) manages current OHV route conditions.