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Hutch Mountain is the highest summit of the Mormon Plateau within the large tract of Coconino National Forest land located southeast of Flagstaff and east of the Interstate-17 corridor. This is the southern extent of the San Francisco Volcanic Fields, and the topography here is testament to the volcanism that created it – rolling terrain and rounded summits of cinder and pumice. The same volcanic activity that created the peaks also created natural depressions – creating two of Arizona’s very few natural lakes. Mormon Lake is close by and is Arizona’s largest natural inland body of water, although it is usually a big mudfield, while Stoneman Lake is smaller and located in a natural crater/depression, covering maybe 20 acres. Migratory birds use these lakes as waypoints on their various bird journeys.
This section of the Coconino National Forest is well off the usual beaten paths, and even on hot summer weekend days, you’ll feel like you have plenty of elbow room. There will be people – it’s not that anonymous – but it is rarely overcrowded and certainly less so than some areas closer to Flagstaff. The land here generally ranges in elevation between 6,000 feet to as high as 8,532 feet – Hutch Mountain’s summit. In summer when the deserts are baking, the weather up here is pleasant and maybe warm, but never overly hot. In winter, snow covers the grounds but snowstorms are often spaced out over many weeks. Unless it has just snowed, access should not be a problem. The forest is predominantly mature ponderosa pine, with pleasurable meadows spaced throughout of low grass.