Due in part to the dry climate, deciduous trees are rare except for in some moist areas along creeks and streams.

While the ponderosa pine is by far the most common tree species in the Coconino National Forest, vegetation type varies depending on the elevation of a certain area.

At the lowest elevations, in the extreme southwestern portion of the forest, actual trees are scarce and the landscape is dominated by various small shrubs and sagebrushes.

Other common tree and shrubs of this environment, often classified as the "juniper-pinyon woodlands", include Arizona cypress, manzanita, and pinyon pine.

Other species scattered among this region include gambel oak, quaking aspen, and Rocky Mountain Juniper.

[6] The highest elevations in the forest are located in the San Francisco Peaks area north of Flagstaff.

Isolated stands of quaking aspen, usually the first tree to regenerate following a severe wildfire, are scattered across the mountain.

[8] At this high elevation with exposure to extreme cold and strong winds, the alpine tundra mostly consists of boulder fields and loose gravel.

The danger of a major wildfire is increased by the fact that there are a number of cities and communities surrounded by forest land.

Over the past few years, the Coconino National Forest has increased its use of prescribed burns as a tool to prevent major wildfires.

There are ten federally designated U.S. Wilderness Areas within or partially within the Coconino National Forest: When the United States acquired the territory comprising Arizona and New Mexico by treaty with Mexico in 1848, those lands not already privately owned, including Spanish and Mexican land grants, nor reserved by treaty for the various Indian tribes, became a part of the "public domain" and open under various laws to settlement, purchase, and use.

In 1898, President William McKinley established the San Francisco Mountain Forest Reserve, at the request of Gifford Pinchot, head of the US Division of Forestry.

Some 21 million acres (85,000 km2) of public lands, almost one-eighth of the area of Arizona and New Mexico, were now to be administered by the new Forest Service.