ZANE GREY COUNTRY
Rim Country Paradise!
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Guide Jef Arnold
Welcome to the Rim Country, also known as "Zane Grey Country". My name is Jef Arnold and I will be your personal guide on this very unique sightseeing tour we call the Zane Grey “Storybook Tour”. I will be taking you through a land of unsurpassed natural beauty and escort you through the magnificent landscapes that inspired the world famous author, Zane Grey, to write so many of his literary masterpieces!
The Rim Country is a land of lush green valleys, thick pine forests, mountain lakes and streams and breathtaking views that will hold you spellbound from atop the 7000 ft. Mogollon Rim (Tonto Rim). This Rim stretches across central east Arizona and rises up to a height of 2000 ft. above the Tonto Basin where Zane Grey kept a cabin retreat that he would return to every fall to pursue his three passions—writing, hunting and fishing.
It was in this idyllic setting beneath the Rim that he created his thrilling stories that captivated the nation and the world during the 1920s and 30s. Twelve of his romantic western novels were set in the Rim Country and two of them were located in the area below me in the picture. They were To The Last Man and Under The Tonto Rim.
As you travel through this unspoiled wilderness, you will see the land just as he describes it in his novels. You will see why Zane Grey fell in love with this area and why he decided to set several of his stories within it’s surroundings. I was so taken with the rustic splendor of this region, that I eventually moved from Phoenix to the town of Payson, heart of the Rim Country, and began writing articles about Zane Grey. I have just recently completed a Pocket Guide To Zane Grey First Editions, which will be available on the tour. I look forward to sharing my knowledge of this legendary writer and the Rim Country with you on this special Zane Grey “Storybook Tour”.