Tonto Basin, AZ

Tonto Basin is a census-designated place in Gila County, Arizona, situated in the scenic valley of Tonto Creek. The community, which includes the settlement of Punkin Center, lies along Arizona State Route 188, about thirty miles south of Payson. The region is historically known as the setting for the Pleasant Valley War, a famous 1886 range feud between local cattle and sheep ranchers. Today, the rural town offers a peaceful desert environment near the Salt River for a population of roughly seventeen hundred residents.