Enter the Apache County Photo Tour:
About Apache County
Apache County covers a tall, skinny stripe of land extending from the northeast corner of Arizona that extends southward more than halfway through the state. The Navajo Nation Indian Reservation includes more than half the county on the northern end. The Fort Apache Indian Reservation includes the southwest corner, and the Zuni Indian Reservation also has a small unit in the county. Part of Petrified Forest National Park lies on the western boundary and the Canyon de Chelly National Monument is entirely in the county.
The elevation is generally high, above 5,000 feet. The Carrizo and Lukachukai Mountains in the northeast reach to nearly 10,000 feet in elevation. The northern areas are rugged and carved up by canyons while the southern areas are more flat or hilly.
Apache County was created in 1879, and now covers 11,208 square miles. Navajo County, to the west, was divided off of if in 1895. It is the sixth largest county in land area in the continental United States. The poplulation in 2000 was 69,423 and the county seat is at St. Johns.
What to See in Apache County.
Petrified Forest National Park offers numerous trails to hike and many views of petrified wood in its native setting and of the Painted Desert.
See ruins in the one-time frontier town of Concho, or the orderly settlement of the Mormons at St. Johns, which continues to be a thriving community today, and is the county seat of Apache County. Travel some sixty miles of U.S. Highway 191 and see the variety of the desert highlands.