This place is magical! You have to stop her if in Payson I love bringing my little dog! I love…read moreseeing the ducks swimming in the water. I enjoy going out on the pier and being amongst all the fishermen. I just love walking around there and basking in the sun and seeing the beautiful weeping willows and grass!

Super nice park! Came here from phx to somewhat escape the July heat! Had been here before but not…read moreto the playground/splash pad. Took us a bit of driving as google maps was unclear on where to find the playground. It's a good sized playground with a nice splash pad. Perfect way for kids to cool off and my on had fun! It was a little crowded when we were here but I think there may have been a bday party going on. Would for sure come again.

Loved this 8 miles round trip trail…read more Easy access by a regular car to the parking. Be sure to arrive early as a parking is limited. We arrived around 7am and it was about a half full. When we were ready to go home around noon, this place was packed. Most part of the trail has tree shades, with nice water sound, I felt pretty cool in the hot summer. Trail is mostly flat. Less than 1,000 feet in elevation gain. Trail has access to the creek throughout, you don't have to hike all 4 miles to enjoy cool water. Bring lots of water. I carried almost a gallon of water with me and I think I consumed 2/3 of them. I saw a camper hiking down in the morning. They said they packed everything including water and spent a night in the woods. That sounded really intriguing, I think I should really thinking about camping here someday.

I have been hiking here for 30 years. It's a great place however as the population grows here the…read moretrail is also packed all the time now. Try to go off season (fall I think is best) to have the best experience. If you have kids, they will love to play in the creek in the hot weather.

I was in town in Show Low staying at my friend's place and decided to take my dog to Tonto National…read moreForest (specifically the two sixty trail area) so we could enjoy the weekend day. It was an hour ride, but I think it was so worth it! My dog really enjoyed it! What I loved was that the facility and trail were clean and well maintained. There was a restroom station and a marker/direction for a subtrail at the entrance from a parking lot. The trail itself was clear and not crowded at all. There were just 2 other people we met during a weekday late morning during our visit for an hour there. My dog really enjoyed roaming around the trail and we loved that we didn't see any trash at all. While the trail was a bit unleveled, the path was clear! Bonus too that it was a free hike/walk for us, including parking! The only minus was that there was no cell phone signal (T-mobile/Mint Mobile), so I was very wary that we might get lost if we didn't keep track of ourselves well enough..so we mostly stayed on the trail and didn't go in too far. But...it is a wonderful place to enjoy the nature for sure!

Doesn't matter what time of the year I come up here. It's always beautiful. Time for a beautiful…read morehike after a long day of driving!

Awesome Father's Day at Tonto Bridge! Got there at 9am when the gate opens and even when we left…read morearound 11:30am on a Sunday there were plenty of parking spots still available in each parking lot. My husband had my 17 mo in a baby carrier and we did the whole loop. We spent a little over 2 hours here. Some parts were super slippery even without water present, esp more towards the bridge, but wear hiking boots and be sure of your footings and you're going to be just fine! Take your time. Stop every now and then and just look up. It's beautiful all the rocks and mountain cliffs. It's beautiful the whole loop trail. Under the bridge the breeze and spray from the water coming down is a treat after being sweating. We saw plenty of young children take on the rocky trails. If you can physically, do the entire big loop. It's worth it.

We are a little too unstable to try the various paths down to the creek, but we did walk on the…read morepath to the four viewing points of the bridge. We got there at 9:30 and the parking lot was almost empty. By the time we left, it was hopping. So from our perspective, the best time to go is early. Of the four viewing points, number one is best for the view of the bridge and number four is best for a view of the waterfall. The park and paths are well-maintained and the person in the gift shop that took our money was incredibly helpful and cheerful. We highly recommend this park.

Over Memorial Day weekend we were on the quest to play in as many parks as possible. When we…read morestopped for lunch in Payson I went on Yelp! to find a park to play in before driving back down to Phoenix so my daughter could get out and play. When we first drove up to the park, we went to the older swing set (not shown in the photo) and were a little let down because it wasn't kept up very well and pieces of the play equipment were broken. When we walked around and up the hill we found the nicer playground with better looking and more updated equipment! It was so fun even I got out on it and played. It looks like a really great neighborhood park that was very busy with baseball tournaments. We would definitely stop by the next time we are in town.

We had a phenomenal hike here. This park is easy to find, has great views, and the hikes aren't too…read morehard physically. Be sure to download AllTrails and track/rate your hike! Decent amount of parking and a variety of sports courts as well. Payson's such a fun spot to get in touch with nature.

FYI: If you're planning to go during the government shutdown, you can't drive all the way to the…read moreparking lot -- it's about an 8-mile hike (a lot of it on gravel). But honestly, it's worth every step! Just when you think you've reached the falls... you haven't. Keep going! The road in is pure washboard -- about 13 miles of bump city -- so make sure you have a 4-wheel drive and that nothing inside your car is loose. Fossil Creek is absolutely stunning, and bonus -- no permit needed after October 1st. The other thing says this trail is easy. No, it's not to be careful if you're taking somebody elderly over that doesn't have good mobility because there's some rocks you had a climb and what not also make sure you take plenty of water to drink and a little snack everything you pack in your pack. I would also suggest leaving the house by three 330. No later you don't wanna be hiking in the pitch dark.

I didn't know anything about this place beforehand. If my boss had never been here and my cousin…read morehad never told me about the Permit, I would've made a wasted trip. I wish I knew more before going. I need to know more information about how things work at Fossil Creek. Even after going, though we enjoyed ourselves, I still don't know how it works. There were no signs telling you where you can access trails to get to the creek. You just had to guess. I found a trail at our Homestead parking lot, but it was very steep and a little dangerous. We found a spot okay in the shade but was very small for our party of 6. We worked so hard getting down there that we just made it work. After leaving we went up the road a little way in our vehicle to see what the other spots looked like, but I saw no bridge or easy access from The Bridge parking lot either, and the road was just way too bumpy. I hope my wife's suspension is okay on her Mazda CX-5. The information before going should've told us about the road and what to expect, basically how to plan. It's all a guessing game. I could've asked the Ranger lady more questions, but I didn't know what to ask. My boss made things sound different. Apparently you can't drive people to the waterfall trailhead anymore. You have to walk over 2 miles on a dusty dirt road in over 100 degrees with vehicles driving by kicking up dust. That makes no sense whatsoever. We enjoyed our time at the water. Everything else leading up to it and after it we could've done without. I don't see us coming back unless we have someone with better suspension and/or better knowledge of the area. Thank you.

This is the summer of being near or water and Woods Canyon Lake has been a favorite of mine for the…read morepast few years. Parking is free, and if unable to find a parking spot by the general store, there are overflow parking lots. I have walked around the entire lake, even when its warm out, its still a nice walk, its partially shaded and has a nice cool breeze coming through. Woods Canyon Lake is one of seven lakes in the Rim Lakes Recreation Area and is one of the most visited. Swimming is allowed, but at your risk, the water is cold, which on a warm day is perfect. But this lake is known to have a lot of rusty hooks so tread carefully. Woods Canyon Lake is great for paddle boarding, kayaking, you can even rent boats to put around in.

Overcrowded. People leaving trash and playing loud music. No chance of relaxing. Parking is $10…read morefor day use. Kids swimming next to people fishing. Every inch of southern shoreline is packed. Get a tetanus shot. No chance of going barefoot.

Too expensive! $15 to get in and the trails aren't even that long. It was $10 just a year ago…read more Also, $2 for a map - absolutely bonkers charging money for a piece of paper when there's a map once you get inside. We paid $15 to sit at a picnic table and hiked a quarter mile :/

Second time being here, so lovely! So glad we got a nice spot on a Friday afternoon during the…read moresummer as I heard it can be very busy and if they're full they'll turn you away. We took our 3 pups to walk around and chill by the water for a few hours and it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Highly recommend! Bring some beach or camping chairs and or a hammock!

There is activities for all here. We had fun riding our bikes on the trails. Great place to being…read moreyour family.

What a blast! We had a great time here this past Wednesday. The park opened up at 1 PM and we…read moreplayed for several hours. It's been a dry winter so all of the "snow" here is made with machines. There are many different tubing slopes and they were SO much fun! Not all of the tubing slopes were open but there was still plenty available and no wait times for us. Our 4 year old had a blast!! There are food trucks available or you can bring in your own food and drinks. Gear is also available for purchase (think gloves, etc). There is one kiddie slope (orange color) for the little ones -- this is the only slope that can be used for double riding in a tube. Overall an amazing experience for us! Would absolutely recommend and be back for more snow fun!

Beautiful place to hike Every-time we come to Payson Washington park has become a must visited…read moredestination

We just have returned from another beautiful camping trip outside of Payson at the camping grounds…read moreat the Washington Park trail . This trail will lead you right up to the rim if you have the equipment , endurance and motivation to get to the top. Our family enjoys camping here when the weather allows for campfires. We like this area because: We have a stream/ creek right behind our campsite. We can hike / walk / explore without difficulties The area has primitive campsites We can drive back to Payson if we need something we have forgotten W e can pull a popup trailer right into the woods with little problem The trees provide shade when it's hot or sunny The weather is generally not too extreme from March to November Dogs are tolerated