Payson (Navajo: Ndzistsooí) is a town in northern Gila County, Arizona, United States.

Payson boasts a lively festival calendar, including The World's Oldest Continuous Rodeo, established in 1884, as well as the Arizona State Old Time Fiddlin' Championship which celebrates the area's musical heritage.

[6] The area was also historically inhabited by the Yavapai and Puebloan peoples, including the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Sinagua cultures.

In 1882, considered to be the founding year of Payson, area settlers established a logging, mining, and ranching hamlet called “Green Valley.

On March 3, 1884, a post office was built in Green Valley with the help of Illinois Representative Levi Joseph Payson.

He would visit with regularity through 1929, and he purchased two plots of land near Tonto Creek, including 120 acres (49 ha) from Sampson Elam Boles under Myrtle Point.

On July 15, 2017, heavy rains from upstream of the creek and river caused the waterways to swell, subsequently leading to downstream flooding.

This flash flood crucially affected the popular Water Wheel swimming hole where 10 people were killed and 4 others were injured.

[10] Payson is located in northern Gila County[11]—within the hilly and mountainous terrain of the Arizona transition zone.

[5] The Mogollon Rim, the southern boundary of the Colorado Plateau, lies to the north of Payson, with elevations exceeding 7,500 feet (2,300 m).

The town straddles USDA Hardiness Zone 7b and 8a, and it is surrounded by high desert pinyon-juniper woodlands; ponderosa pine; stands of Arizona cypress and live oak; and the mixed conifer forests of the Mogollon Rim escarpment.

The monsoon brings frequent, sometimes severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, strong winds, hail, and flash floods.

On average, Payson receives 7 inches (180 mm) of monsoonal moisture—approximately 35% of its annual precipitation—across the months of July, August, and September.

While most winter precipitation falls as rain, Payson receives an average of 18.5” of snow each year, spread across six days of measurable snowfall.

Blooms include a fiery array of Indian paintbrush blossoms, primroses, poppies, lupines, larkspurs, daisies, and the golds and fuchsias of cactus flowers (and other brightly colored wildflowers).

In various areas surrounding the community, quartz crystals can be found, some rivaling Herkimer diamonds in quality, as well as geodes, agate and onyx.

Payson is the site of the annual Arizona State Old Time Fiddlin' Championship, held in September.

In May, the Multi-Purpose Event Center near the Tonto Apache Reservation hosts the Gary Hardt Memorial Rodeo.

Forestlands surrounding Payson, and throughout central, northern, and eastern Arizona, serve as the backdrop to the legend of the Mogollon Monster—described as a large, bipedal, ape-like creature with a pungent smell, similar to Bigfoot.

The legend came to local prominence in 1947 when a "big, hairy beast" raided a Boy Scout camp near Tonto Creek.

The police department also staffs a 24/7 dispatch center that is the primary public safety answering point (PSAP) for northern Gila County.