For my birthday a few years back, I wanted to explore a part of Arizona that my family and I hadn't been to. I wanted it to be a day of adventurous leisure; and after extensive searching of Pinterest and the Internet, I came across the Mogollon Rim. The 43-mile long, unpaved, Rim Road creeps along the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau and is quite spectacular. Several other trails extend off of it; and it boasts diverse foliage and wildlife of all kinds and also of myth.
The Mogollon Monster is a bipedal giant with red-eyes. It's a Bigfoot variant described as a hairy, brown, ape-like creature that smells like death, skunk, and rotting fish. (I picture the creatures from the X-Files episode "Detour", for some reason.) The first published sightings occurred in 1903 near the Grand Canyon. A man described that a large creature with grey/white hair and mange was sucking the blood from two cougars. Once recognizing that it wasn't alone, the monster let out a horrible cry and went to club the man in a fit of violence. In the 40's, a boy scout, during a camping trip, awoke one night to a smelly beast rummaging through its troop's belongings in the middle of the night. When the boy confronted him, thinking it was another scout, the creature loomed over him and the stench made the little boy think he messed in his own sleeping bag. The nearby Fort Apache Reservation has reported a number of sightings. And a quick search on Youtube can provide you with more recent sightings. The Mogollon Monster is reported to be nocturnal, so campers. beware: its rumored to explore campsites at night. People say that an eerie silence preludes their encounters. They say it can mimic wildlife, whistle, and screams like a distraught woman. It allegedly decapitates its prey before drinking its blood. It makes nests out of pine needles and leaves. Hikers have reported that stones and large debris have been hurled at them and believe the monster hides just out of view.
My recommendation for visiting the Mogollon Rim is to turn onto Rim Road (Forest Road 300) off of Arizona-87 and follow it all the way to the Payson-Heber Highway (Arizona-260). This will keep all of the views on your right. The dirt road is a little rough. Best to avoid taking low clearance vehicles with 2-wheel drive.
XXBDGT