Greer

The community of Greer is a year-round outdoor recreational paradise. While summer months are the height of the tourist season, winter sporting activities now draw increasing numbers of visitors.

The Willard Lee family arrived in Greer in 1879, and named the area Lee Valley. In 1898, when a post office was established, the name was changed to Greer, in honor of their leading citizen, one Americus Vespucius Greer.

Today, Greer is home to some of the most reknowned mountaintop getaways, with quaint cabins, bed and breakfasts, and lodges that greet visitors from honeymoon couples to corporate retreats. Most of these properties are nestled in the tall pines or adjacent to the Little Colorado River. This stream, like Big Lake, Crescent Lake, Lee Valley Lake, and Sunrise Lake are famous for horseback riding, sailing, biking, canoeing, hunting, photography, bird watching, rock collecting, and hiking. Several improved areas in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests that surround the community offer a total of 205 campsites, many a stone's throw to the creeks and streams teaming with German Brown, Rainbow, and Apache Cut Throat trout.

The fully paved highway leading from Springerville/Eagar takes visitors through scenic forests lush with wildlife. Many a fisherman has looked up to find elk and deer sharing a cool drink from the sparkling clear streams and lakes.

Visitors often make Greer a day trip from Springerville/Eagar to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner at one of the retreats overlooking the meadow of the Little Colorado River. A general store provides fishing tackle and the latest pointers on "landing the big one."

At an elevation of 8,500 feet, the daily high temperatures rarely exceed 80 degrees. With nearby winter recreation areas for cross-country skiing, tubing, horse-drawn sleigh rides, skating, and snowmobiling, the natural pine lodges of the retreats make a welcome haven from winter snows.