Mazatzal Wilderness
{{Short description|Protected area in Arizona}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = Mazatzal Wilderness
| iucn_category = Ib
| photo =
| photo_caption =
| map = USA
| relief = 1
| location = Yavapai and Gila counties, Arizona, United States
| nearest_city = Payson (town)
| coordinates = {{coord|34|08|45|N|111|33|53|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| area = {{convert|252390|acre|ha}}
| established = 1964
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| governing_body = U.S. Forest Service
}}
Mazatzal Wilderness is a wilderness area of about 390 square miles (1,000 km2) in Yavapai and Gila counties in the U.S. state of Arizona.{{cite web|title=Mazatzal Wilderness|url=http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=347|work=Wilderness.net|publisher=University of Montana|access-date=November 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012161132/http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&WID=347|archive-date=October 12, 2012|url-status=dead}} The wilderness is within the Tonto and Coconino national forests.{{cite web|title=Tonto N.F. Wilderness Areas: Summary|url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_018601.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226230549/http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_018601.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 26, 2011|publisher=U.S. Forest Service|page=27|access-date=November 13, 2012}} The town of Payson is to the east, and the Verde River is to the west. During summer, temperatures in the wilderness often exceed 110 °F (43 °C).
The wilderness lies within the following quadrangles of the national topographic map of the United States Geological Survey: Cypress Butte, Table Mountain, Hackberry Mountain, Lion Mountain, Strawberry, Verde Hot Springs, Cane Springs Mountain, Horseshoe Dam, Wet Bottom Mesa, North Peak, and Chalk Mountain.{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System| publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = July 1, 1992 | url ={{Gnis3|41981}}| title = Mazatzal Wilderness | access-date =November 13, 2012}}
Elevations range from {{convert|2100|ft|m}} feet at Sheep Bridge along the river to {{convert|7903|ft|m}} on Mazatzal Peak. The flora varies from desert shrubs at the lower elevations to grassland plants to manzanita, shrub live oak, and other mountain shrubs. Scattered pinyon-juniper woodlands, ponderosa pines, and Douglas-fir are found at higher elevations.
About {{convert|240|mi|km}} of trails cross the wilderness. These include the Verde River Trail, which follows the river for about {{convert|28|mi|km}} and the Mazatzal Divide Trail, which runs north–south for about {{convert|29|mi|km}}.