Mount Baldy (Arizona)

{{Short description|Mountain in Apache County, Arizona, United States}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Mount Baldy

| photo = Mount_Baldy_Arizona.jpg

| photo_caption = Mount Baldy from a US Forest Service webcam

| elevation_ft = 11409

| elevation_ref = {{navd88}}{{cite ngs |pid=DT0788 |name=Baldy |accessdate=2014-02-06}}

| map_width = 180

| prominence_ft = 4723

| prominence_ref = {{cite peakbagger |pid=3963 |name=Mount Baldy, Arizona |accessdate=2014-02-06}}

| listing = {{unbulleted list

| North America isolated peaks 81st

| Arizona county high point{{cite peakbagger |lid=13211 |title=Arizona County High Points |accessdate=2016-08-14}}

}}

| range = White Mountains

| parent_peak =

| location = Apache County, Arizona, U.S.

| map = USA Arizona

| map_alt = A map of Arizona showing the location of Mount Baldy

| map_caption = none

| coordinates = {{coord|33.905940617|N|109.562632281|W|type:mountain_region:US-AZ_scale:100000_source:NGS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| range_coordinates =

| coordinates_ref =

| topo = USGS Mount Baldy (AZ)

| type = Stratovolcano{{cite web | url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/2015/09/02/arizona-hike-west-baldy-trail/32356473/ | title=Arizona hike: West Baldy Trail }}

| age =

| volcanic_arc/belt =

| last_eruption = 2 million years ago {{cite web | url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/2015/09/02/arizona-hike-west-baldy-trail/32356473/ | title=Arizona hike: West Baldy Trail }}

| first_ascent =

| easiest_route =

}}

Mount Baldy ({{langx|apw|Dził Łigai}} White Mountain{{cite journal |last=McNamee |first=George |date=December 2000 |title=In High Spirits |journal=Backpacker |pages=126, [https://books.google.com/books?id=9uIDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA136 136]}}) is an extinct stratovolcano{{cite web | url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/2015/09/02/arizona-hike-west-baldy-trail/32356473/ | title=Arizona hike: West Baldy Trail }} in eastern Arizona in the United States. With a summit elevation of {{convert|11409|ft|0}}, the peak of Mount Baldy rises above the tree line and is left largely bare of vegetation, lending the mountain its current name.{{cite news |url=http://www.azcentral.com/travel/hiking/articles/baldy.html |title=Sheep Crossing Trail |publisher=The Arizona Republic |last=Deforest |first=Lisa |access-date=2014-02-06}} The Mount Baldy Wilderness occupies the eastern slope of the mountain and is managed by the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.{{Cite web|url=https://wilderness.net/visit-wilderness/?ID=372|title = Wilderness Connect}}

The summit of Mount Baldy is within the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. It is the highest point in the White Mountains and Apache County. It is the fifth-highest point in the state, and the highest outside the San Francisco Peaks in the Flagstaff area.{{cite peakbagger |lid=21370 |name=Arizona 10,000-foot Peaks |accessdate=2014-02-06}} An unnamed sub-peak with an elevation of {{convert|10890|ft|0}} exists approximately {{convert|0.5|mi|1}} to the north of the summit that is off reservation and accessible to the public via maintained trail.{{cite web |url=http://www.wmonline.com/attract/trails/wbaldy.htm |title=West Baldy Trail |date=15 February 2023 |publisher=White Mountains Online}}{{cite web |url=http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5227797.pdf#page=18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120824070107/http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5227797.pdf#page=18 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 24, 2012 |title=Springerville Ranger District Trail Guide |publisher=Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests |page=18 |access-date=2014-02-06}} A third peak, Ord Peak, sits about three miles northwest of Baldy Peak, not to be confused with Mount Ord in Gila County.

Mount Baldy is one of the most sacred mountains to the Apache of Arizona. The Western Apache of Arizona inhabited the areas within their four most sacred mountain ranges: the White Mountains of Eastern Arizona, the Pinaleno Mountains near the town of Safford in southeastern Arizona, the Four Peaks near the City of Phoenix and the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff.

When Captain George M. Wheeler visited the mountaintop in 1873, he described the view as "The most magnificent and effective of any among the large number that have come under my observation". Wheeler named the mountain Mount Thomas after General Lorenzo Thomas, who fought in the Mexican–American War. It later became Mount Baldy.{{cite book |author=Byrd H. Granger |title=Arizona Place Names |url=https://archive.org/details/arizonaplacename00barn |url-access=registration |year=1960 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/arizonaplacename00barn/page/3 3]}} The name Mount Thomas has been assigned to a nearby peak by the U.S. Geological Survey.{{cite gnis |id=39172 |name=Mount Thomas |accessdate=2014-02-06}}

Mount Baldy also contains the headwaters of the Little Colorado River and Salt River and produces the most abundant trout fishing streams in Arizona. No other mountain in Arizona produces as many rivers and streams. Along its slope are numerous man made lakes. The area around Mount Baldy also averages the most abundant precipitation in Arizona. Wildlife is abundant on the mountain and includes the recently introduced Mexican Grey Wolf.

While looking northeast from Historic Fort Apache (elevation {{cvt|5,290|ft}}), Mount Baldy rises {{cvt|6,130|ft}} in elevation.

{{wide image|View from summit of Mt Baldy, Arizona, May 2012.jpg|800px|View from the summit of Mount Baldy, looking west}}