JK Hideaway is our little high country retreat. It is a short, beautiful drive less than an hour from the Valley up the four-lane, lightly traveled Beeline Highway. Yet you don't have to drive through Payson or suffer the construction and traffic on Highway 260 to the Mogollon Rim, or further up Highway 87 to Strawberry and beyond.

Climate: Temperatures in the Payson area run 15-20 degrees cooler than in the Phoenix area. In addition to that, however, the temps fall off much faster in the afternoon and evening, because there is no "urban heat island" effect that accompanies all the concrete and pavement in Phoenix. The late summer rain showers begin much earlier in the summer in Payson than in Phoenix. The humidity is typically much lower, as well.

The air is much clearer in Payson. In fact, the Payson area and the Rim Country are widely known for some of the clearest, cleanest air in the world.

Payson: JK Hideaway is only about five minutes south of Payson (click here for visitor information ) in Upper Round Valley (part of the historic Gibson Ranch area) so you can quickly drive into town for a movie, a milkshake, or groceries (or gambling if that's your thing).

Payson Airport has a great 5500-foot paved strip, with fuel, plenty of transient parking, and a good little resaurant. Check out http://www.airnav.com/airport/KPAN for more info.

The fine folks at the WD Ranch (also part of the old Gibson Ranch) offer cabin rental on a nightly and weekly basis. On their website they have a great list of things to do in Payson. Our favorite Payson restaurants (so far) are the Beeline Cafe and JB's Smokehouse (adjacent to the Spur Bar in Star Valley).

Our Property: Our 7+ tree-covered acres ensure that you will have difficulty even seeing the neighbors' homes...but they are pretty good folks if you happen to pass them on the road (world-renowned wedding photographer David Beckstead is one of them: www.becksteadphotograpy.com). It is an incredibly quiet location. You can hear the breezes blowing in the pines...and when the air is still, you can only hear the ringing in your ears. The south-facing covered patio is about 500 square feet. It is a wonderful place to sit and drink iced tea on a sunny day...or hot chocolate during a rain shower.

The entire south property line is on the Tonto National Forest. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of pinon pines and trails. If the outdoors is your passion, you will never be bored! You can see the Mogollon Rim from the property. A short, easy hike to the top of Wilbanks Hill yields an even better panorama of the Rim plus spectacular views of the Mazatzal Mountains (MAD' uh-zell) to the west.

Our Home: Our home is a 3000 square foot structure, masonry first floor and frame construction above. The two floors are completely independent. We are renting the entire first floor (1500 square feet) as we occasionally come up and enjoy the second floor on the weekends. There is a separate outside stairway to the upstairs. The furnace is gas-fired. All windows and patio doors have double-pane glass. There are two designated bedrooms and a full bath downstairs in the unit we are renting, but there's plenty of room for more folks or even a large artist's studio!

The property is available December 1st, 2012.

Monthly rent with a year lease is $950, with one month deposit. No smoking please, but small pets are OK with appropriate additional deposit. The property is not configured for horses.

Please call John at 480.229.1831 or email John@ReactionResearch.com for more information or an appointment to see the property. We live in the Valley, so appointments are necessary to make sure we can meet you there. Please do not disturb the current occupant.

All information copyright ©2012, Azure Development, L.L.C.