Snowflake & Taylor
Scenic Attractions

The Snowflake area is known as the "Hub" of the White Mountains as it is centrally located. Only an hour's drive from many great outdoor activities such as camping, hunting, fishing, and skiing.

From Phoenix, the towns of Snowflake-Taylor are a pleasant three hour drive to enjoy year-round golfing at the Snowflake Municipal Golf Course. The course is adjacent to a 90 space RV park and set amidst the beautiful Snowflake Country Club Estates. The town offers two motels with over 65 rooms for travelers, along with local restaurants and cafes that provide an "Old West" atmosphere.

James Stinson, a cattleman engaged in supplying cattle to a military post, established his Rancho Rio De La Plata on the Silver Creek. He first saw the Silver Creek valley in about 1870 to 1873. He hired about 400 Mexican workers and they soon had 300 acres under irrigation.

In the summer of 1878, a group of Mormon pioneers, including Erastus Snow and William J. Flake, were sent on colonization missions by Brigham Young. They settled on the Stinson Ranch and named the townsite Snowflake. That same year, settlers also founded Taylor, named in honor of John Taylor, a president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. Many descendants of these pioneers are still in the area.

Many of the homes of the first generation of settlers still remain in a habitable condition with their original decorations and are listed with the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office. Six, of the over one hundred homes, are listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings. Visitors to Snowflake-Taylor will enjoy a walking or driving tour of these many historic buildings. There are numerous fine examples of Victorian, Georgian, Greek Revival, Gothic, Colonial, and Neoclassical architecture. Three of the homes are historical museums which can be toured on week days or by appointment.

• The Sinks: Unique geological formations where the ground has sunken into subterranean faults and created huge craters.

• Petroglyphs: Areas of Silver Creek Canyon where past native inhabitants have covered the walls with symbolic writings telling events of their time.

• Taylor Cemetery: Buried under rows of towering spruce. Pioneers were told spruce trees could not be transplanted there, nor would they grow.

• Black Mesa: Unusual flat-top mountain/ridge covered with Indian ruins and history of the area.

• Cabin "found in a fire": An old pioneer home that burned and revealed a complete cabin that had been converted to a sewing room in the house built around it.

• Pioneer memorial homes: Tour them in the summer for an interesting trip to the pioneer past.

This information was prepared by the Arizona Department of Commerce Communications and Research Division in cooperation with the Town of Snowflake.