Salt River Canyon
— two thousand feet of switchback, and a green river at the bottom.
Not only on a wall.
Salt River Canyon, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.
Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.
“Driving north out of Globe, the road tips over a rim and falls two thousand feet of switchback to the Salt River. The canyon is the line between the San Carlos and White Mountain Apache reservations. A bridge crosses the water; sycamores line the bank; the rock above is layered red and grey. Most travellers stop for ten minutes and read the historical marker.
The place, in three passes.
Salt River Canyon is a roughly 2,000-foot-deep gorge cut by the Salt River across east-central Arizona, halfway between Globe and Show Low on US Highway 60. The canyon forms the boundary between the San Carlos Apache Reservation to the south and the Fort Apache (White Mountain Apache) Reservation to the north. The river itself drains the White Mountains and the Mogollon Rim and runs about 200 miles southwest into the Phoenix valley, where it joins the Gila River. The canyon stretch is sometimes called Arizona's other Grand Canyon for its scale and exposed strata.
The Salt earns its name from natural salt springs along the upper river, and the water carries a measurable mineral load year round. Below the US-60 bridge the canyon opens into the Salt River Wild and Scenic stretch, designated by Congress in 1984, where 32 miles between the bridge and Roosevelt Lake offer Class III and IV whitewater on permit-only multi-day trips. Spring snowmelt off the White Mountains brings the river up between March and May; by July the flow drops and the green pools deepen against the red rock.
US-60 crosses the canyon at the Salt River Canyon Bridge, where a paved overlook and a small interpretive area sit on the north rim. The drive from Globe is 40 miles; from Show Low, 45. There is no entrance fee at the overlook, but fishing, hiking, or boating below the rim crosses onto tribal land — the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the White Mountain Apache Tribe both require recreation permits sold through their game and fish offices. Winter snow can briefly close the highway; spring and autumn are the steady seasons.
