Upper Hospital Flat Group Site

Upper Hospital Flat is a great place for groups to escape the summer heat of the surrounding deserts and retreat to a scenic meadow in the Pinaleno Mountains of southeastern Arizona. The area is known for camping, scenic driving, picnicking, birding, wildlife viewing, hiking, mountain biking and history. In the 1880s the campground served as the site of a field hospital for ailing soldiers from nearby Fort Grant, hence its name; the restorative powers of this cool, high-elevation location also attracted officers and their families seeking a summer refuge from desert heat. The campground lies along the Swift Trail Scenic Drive, which takes visitors from the Sonoran Desert at 2,900 feet to alpine meadows and forest on the 9,000-plus-foot ridges of the Pinaleno Range. Because of its diverse habitat, the area is well known for birding and wildlife watching. Nearby Hospital Flat Campground includes a 0.75-mile nature trail with interpretive information about the meadow and its plant and animal inhabitants. The Swift Trail also provides access to a number of hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking trails, along with several other campgrounds that invite you for an afternoon picnic. A trip up to Rigg's Lake, stocked with trout by Arizona Game and Fish, or to the Columbine Visitors Center makes a worthwhile day trip as well. Upper Hospital Flat can accommodate a group of up to 50 people. The group site is equipped with a picnic table, parking area and campfire ring with a grill, and dead-and-down firewood may be collected in and around the campsite. Several first-come, first-served individual sites are located nearby in the Hospital Flat Campground, paid separately. There are no toilets on site — one portable, self-contained toilet is required for every 15 people. The road leading into the group site is mainly suitable for higher-clearance vehicles. The campground sits along Big Creek in a mixed conifer forest, adjacent to a meadow that comes to life with wildflower blooms in late summer, and the 9,000-foot elevation offers pleasant summer temperatures. The Coronado National Forest covers 1.78 million acres of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, with elevations from 3,000 to 10,720 feet across 12 widely scattered mountain ranges, or "sky islands," that rise dramatically from the desert floor and support biologically diverse plant communities. The Mount Graham Wilderness Study Area includes 10,720-foot Mount Graham, the tallest mountain in southern Arizona. The Columbine Visitors Center, Riggs Lake and a variety of trails can be reached along the Swift Trail Scenic Drive. The town of Safford is approximately an hour's drive north on SR 191 and is home to the district Ranger Station, open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with information about trails, camping, hunting and fishing.