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Whispering Pines, Arizona

23 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1887 and the latest in 2004. It stands in the Payson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85541. It lies near Bear Canyon. The Survey maps it on the Payson North quadrangle. 124 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 5,200 feet above sea level.

Whispering Pines within Gila County

Population over time

2 figures

Whispering Pines fell from 148 to 124 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010148
2020124-24 (-16%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 23 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Photographs

1 photograph,

Taken for the Office of War Information and the Farm Security Administration, who photographed the country between 1935 and 1944. Works of United States government photographers, with no known restriction on use. Each opens its catalogue record.

Whispering Pines Bridge, Spanning East Verde River at Forest Service Control Road, Payson, Gila County, AZ
Whispering Pines Bridge, Spanning East Verde River at Forest Service Control Road, Payson, Gila County, AZ
Photographer not recorded. Library of Congress

Fires near this place

407 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 407 fires within 5 miles of Whispering Pines between 1992 and 2020, burning about 18,740 acres in total. 293 started naturally. 9 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Natural293
Recreation and ceremony53
Missing data/not specified/undetermined24
Debris and open burning10
Arson/incendiarism9
Misuse of fire by a minor6
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Smoking3
Other causes1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Firearms and explosives use1
Fireworks1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2011Naturalunder an acreTonto National ForestPRAIRIE
9 September 2009Naturalunder an acreTonto National ForestCHASE
8 September 1995Naturalunder an acreTonto National ForestCAVE
8 September 1995Naturalunder an acreTonto National ForestPERLEY
7 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreTonto National ForestVERDE
7 September 2014Naturalunder an acreTonto National ForestWASHINGTON
7 September 2002Misuse of fire by a minor1.0 acresTonto National ForestBON
7 September 2002Naturalunder an acreTonto National ForestDRY

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Gila County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Whispering Pines: 3 past producers, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver, Lead. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Luper ClaimsSilver, LeadProspect
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Gila County

Storms near this place

13 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Whispering Pines in 13 storm reports between 2005 and 2025: 7 flash flood, 5 heavy rain, 1 flood. The reports record 2 deaths. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2023FloodWhispering Pines2 killedTonto Creek near Roosevelt started to rise from a level of 3.7 feet (630 CFS) at around 1100 AM on March 21. The flooding started earlier upstream. The first peak flow of 12.2 feet (23,300 CFS) was at 800 PM on March 21. A second peak of 12.5 feet (25,500 CFS) was observed at 800 AM on March 22. The gauge dropped back down to action level at (4.35 feet) on March 25 at 800 AM. An elderly couple and their dog were killed in the Bear Flat area when they cross the flooded Tonto Creek in their truck.
July 2025Flash FloodWhispering Pines-Public reported 2 feet of water in Webber Creek with debris from the West Fire scar after heavy rain fell on the scar.
September 2025Flash FloodWhispering Pines-Public estimated 2 feet of water from Webber Creek flowing over the road entering Geronimo Estates.
August 2024Heavy RainWhispering Pines-A spotter 4 miles SSW Washington Park reported two inches of rain in about 45 minutes.
July 2021Heavy RainWhispering Pines-Heavy rain fell 4 miles south of Washington Park with 1.10 inches measured in 40 minutes.
August 2018Flash FloodWhispering Pines-A picture posted on social media shows that the East Verde River was flooding over Beaver Flat Road.
July 2017Flash FloodWhispering Pines-The flow in Bonita Creek increased as a result of heavy rain on the Highline Fire scar. The water remained within banks and did not impact the homes in the area.
August 2016Flash FloodWhispering Pines-Heavy rain from thunderstorms caused flash flooding which deposited large logs and rocks across area roads.
August 2013Heavy RainWhispering Pines-A trained spotter in Tonto Village reported 1.30 inches of rain. Forest Road 64 into Tonto Village remained open.
August 2011Heavy RainWhispering Pines-A trained spotter in Tonto Village reported approximately 1.50 inches of rain in 30 minutes.
July 2011Heavy RainWhispering Pines-The remote weather station on Promontory Point picked up 2.97 inches of rain in less than two hours.
July 2007Flash FloodWhispering Pines-Flash flooding was reported in Christopher Creek from the edge of the Mogollon Rim to about 10 miles downstream from Highway 260 near the community of Christopher Creek.
August 2005Flash FloodWhispering Pines-Flash flooding began along the East Verde River near Whispering Pines around 415 PM MST. The river came up five feet and flowed over the bridges on Houston Mesa Road. Big logs were seen floating down the river.

Every storm recorded in Gila County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Verde Glen1.9 miles23
Beaver Valley Estates2.5 miles23
Bonita Creek Estates3.2 miles26
Wonder Valley3.7 miles23
Washington Park3.8 miles23
Freedom Acres3.8 miles23
Geronimo Estates4.0 miles23
Flowing Springs4.7 miles23

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Whispering PinesAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6167188The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 40831. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.