| Address | Near Marble Canyon, AZ 86036 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 36.9247, -111.7218 |
| Category | Hiking, Scenic |
| Nearest city | Big Water |
| Region | Arizona, USA |
| Sources | geonames |
Bush Head Travel Guide
Bush Head is a mountain in Arizona. The nearest service base is Big Water, roughly 17 km away.
Bush Head at a Glance
- What it is: mountain (travel destination)
- Where it is: Near Marble Canyon, AZ 86036 — coordinates 36.9247, 111.7218
- Why it is listed: a source-verified entry in the CollabsTravel master database, matched against official gazetteer and geographic records before publication
- Time needed: a couple of hours
- Best season: May to September
Quick Facts
| Place type | Mountain |
| Also good for | Hiking, Scenic |
| Region / state | Arizona |
| Postal address | Near Marble Canyon, AZ 86036 |
| Nearest city | Big Water |
| Coordinates | 36.9247, -111.7218 |
| Nearest base town | Big Water (17 km) |
Why Bush Head Is Worth Visiting
Bush Head earns its place in this guide for a simple reason: it is a verified destination in Arizona,. Its position 17 km from Big Water also makes it an easy add-on rather than a detour that costs half a day. Visitors book it for hiking, scenic as much as for destination. And unlike listicle recommendations, everything on this page - coordinates, category, sources - was checked against official records before publication.
About Bush Head
In plain terms, Bush Head is a mountain in the Arizona area of Arizona that travellers book around destination trips. Beyond its main draw, the record tags it for hiking, scenic too, so it rewards more than one kind of visit. Functionally it belongs to Big Water - the town most maps and locals will reference when describing how to reach it. Everything stated on this page comes from that verified record; where background history is quoted, the source is named at the end of the section.
The Story of Bush Head: History & Background
Bush Head is a summit in the Coconino County, Arizona. It is about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Buckskin Gulch and located on the Paria Plateau west of the Paria River in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.
Lead passage from the Wikipedia article "Bush Head", reused under CC BY-SA 4.0 with a coordinate-verified name match; the source article carries the full referenced history.
The Beauty of Bush Head
What people mean when they call Bush Head beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. The light does most of the work: mid-latitude light gives the place two looks: clean blue summer noon and a low amber angle in spring and autumn. The seasons restyle everything around it - each season repaints it - plan the visit around the colour you want in your photos. And the beauty compounds with context: with 8 other verified places nearby, the Arizona area reads as one continuous landscape rather than a single viewpoint, which is worth more than any filter on the photos you take here.
Getting There
Bush Head sits at 36.9247, 111.7218 in Arizona. Most visitors reach it by car, regional rail or local transit; pin the coordinates above rather than only the name - Bush Head names repeat across regions, and rural entries often lack street addresses.
Base yourself in Big Water and make this a half-day trip; services, fuel and lodging are easiest there. The run from Big Water is about 17 km (11 mi) each way, so allow Big Water as your anchor for the day.
Best Time to Visit
the desert Southwest runs hot from June to September, so spring (March–May) and fall (September–November) are the most comfortable months for hiking and outdoor plans.
Bush Head Season by Season
- Summer (Jun-Aug) - peak season: the warmest, longest days and everything open, which also makes it the priciest and busiest window
- Autumn (Sep-Nov) - shoulder season: crowds drain away, the light turns photographic, and lodging rates typically fall
- Winter (Dec-Feb) - off-season: cheapest beds and empty viewpoints, but check for closures, snow or rain before committing
- Spring (Mar-May) - rebuild season: wildflowers, newborn wildlife and reopened facilities - the best balance if the weather holds
Things to Do
Planning what to actually do at Bush Head comes down to the setting it sits in:
- Arrive with the exact coordinates (36.9247, -111.7218) pinned in your maps app — rural place names repeat across states
- Give the site one unhurried hour before adding anything else to the day
- Pair it with the nearest named attraction on this page to make a full loop
- Chain the stop with what is nearby — see the list below before fixing your day route
None of this needs a rigid schedule - the honest pattern at Bush Head is one anchor at the nearest anchor town, one longer stop, and the rest of the time left for whatever looks better from the car window. That flexibility is what separates a good half-day from a rushed one.
A Perfect Day in Bush Head
Morning (start early). Have breakfast at Big Water and roll out before mid-morning - the light is softer, parking is open, and Bush Head is at its quietest before the day-trippers arrive. Give the main stop its full due first rather than saving it for later.
Midday. From Bush Head, Middle Reservoir is only 9 km away - pair the two rather than driving home for lunch; a picnic beats a reservation near most of these spots.
Afternoon. Keep going to Powells Monument (9 km) if the group still has legs; it is the standard second half of this loop.
Golden hour. End at the main viewpoint, waterfront or main street as the light drops; this is the hour Bush Head is genuinely famous for locally, and it costs nothing.
Evening. Sleep at Big Water unless the road out is long - leaving at dusk is the one mistake that can flatten an otherwise perfect day.
Know Before You Go to Bush Head
- Save the pin (36.9247, -111.7218) offline - reception in Arizona is exactly as good as it needs to be and no better
- Check the official source listed at the bottom of this page for current hours, fees and closures before driving out
- Visit on weekdays: at most verified spots weekends triple the local traffic
- Bring the basics - water, layers, power bank - because facilities at this kind of place are self-service
Nearby Places Worth Combining
Bush Head does not sit in isolation - these verified places are all within a short hop and combine into a full loop:
- Middle Reservoir — place, about 9 km (6 mi) away
- Powells Monument — place, about 9 km (6 mi) away
- Lower Reservoir — place, about 10 km (6 mi) away
- Little Knoll — place, about 11 km (7 mi) away
- Johnson Point — place, about 12 km (7 mi) away
- Red Knolls — place, about 12 km (7 mi) away
- Middle Knoll — place, about 13 km (8 mi) away
- Five Mile Point — place, about 13 km (8 mi) away
Planning More of Your Trip
See all destinations in Arizona on the Arizona state hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bush Head worth visiting?+
Yes, if you are in the area for more than a single day. Bush Head is a verified mountain in Arizona that most drive-by lists miss, and the official-record provenance behind this page means the location, name and access facts are checked rather than guessed. Give it a couple of hours.
Where exactly is Bush Head?+
Bush Head sits at Near Marble Canyon, AZ 86036, coordinates 36.9247, -111.7218. The postal locality is Marble Canyon - use the coordinates rather than the name alone, because place names repeat across regions and a map pin beats a keyword search.
How far is Bush Head from the nearest city?+
Bush Head is about 17 km (11 mi) from Big Water, which is an easy out-and-back day trip - most visitors base themselves in Big Water and make the run in well under an hour each way.
What is the best time to visit Bush Head?+
May to September. Book the shoulder months either side of that window for the same scenery at lower prices, and check seasonal closures before fixing dates.
How long do you need at Bush Head?+
Plan on a couple of hours for a first visit - the highlights at a normal pace without rushing. Add another half day if you want to combine it with the nearby places listed above.
Is Bush Head good for families with kids?+
It works with kids who have patience for the setting; judge it by your shortest-attention traveller and keep the visit to the first highlight.
Does Bush Head cost anything to visit?+
Most public places like this have no entry fee, but parking, guided programs and seasonal shuttles are the usual small costs. Confirm current fees with the official source cited on this page - they change more often than guidebooks do.
What is near Bush Head?+
The closest verified neighbour is Middle Reservoir; the nearby list above has the full set with distances, and combining two or three of them is the standard way to fill a day around Bush Head.
Is Bush Head open to visitors, and do you need a permit?+
Public places listed here are visitable by default; the permit exceptions are usually specific activities (backcountry camping, drones, commercial photography) rather than the visit itself. Check the cited official source for anything activity-based.
Should you visit Bush Head in bad weather?+
Rain reshapes rather than ruins the day - viewpoints become cloud-scapes and trails get muddy. Keep Bush Head as a fair-weather item on your trip and swap in the covered alternatives from the regional list when the forecast turns.
What makes Bush Head different from other places like it?+
Its exact combination: a mountain in Arizona with verified coordinates and, where listed, an official designation. The difference is usually the setting and the access pattern rather than the category label - the facts table on this page shows that specifically.
Can you visit Bush Head as a day trip?+
Yes - at a couple of hours on site, a day loop is realistic: morning at Bush Head, one nearby stop, and home by evening. The Perfect Day section above has the hour-by-hour version.
What is Bush Head known for?+
In the wider record, mountain-class place: Bush Head is a summit in the Coconino County, Arizona. This guide adds the practical layer - verified coordinates, access, seasonality and what to combine it with.
What is the most beautiful thing about Bush Head?+
The honest short answer is in The Beauty of Bush Head section above, but distilled: what people mean when they call bush head beautiful is usually the setting itself - the land, water and sky that put the place on maps. Come for the light and the setting rather than a single checklist object.
Is Bush Head crowded?+
Bush Head sits below the headline-name tier in its region, so crowding is an event-and-weekend problem rather than a standing one. Weekday mornings in the shoulder season are the quietest version of the visit.
What is the history of Bush Head?+
The History & Background section above quotes the coordinate-verified Wikipedia lead for Bush Head, which is the shortest trustworthy path into its past - dates, name origin and the events that shaped it, with the full referenced article linked there. ## Source Verification This guide's facts come from official public datasets: [Geonames record 5287811](https://www.geonames.org/5287811). Location data is reviewed in per-state batches before publication.
Nearby destinations
Middle Reservoir
Lake · Arizona
Powells Monument
Mountain · Arizona
Cedar Mountain
Mountain · Utah
Lower Reservoir
Lake · Arizona
Little Knoll
Mountain · Arizona
Johnson Point
Mountain · Arizona
Red Knolls
Mountain · Arizona
Middle Knoll
Mountain · Arizona