The County Larger Than Nine US States

Coconino County, Arizona, covers 18,661 square miles, making it larger than nine US states. It stretches across much of northern Arizona, where tribal lands, national parks, and developed areas all fall within the same county lines. According to the latest US Census estimate, 144,368 people live across that enormous area. The result is a county where vast stretches of open land surround a relatively small population.

Horseshoe Bend, where the Colorado River turns back on itself near Page in the north of the county. There are nine states smaller than Coconino County. All of them, except for one, are located in the eastern United States. These states are listed in reverse order below:

It is smaller than West Virginia, which has a total area of 24,230 square miles. However, despite its large size, Coconino County is only the second-largest county in the contiguous US.

The largest county in the contiguous US is San Bernardino County, California, at 20,105 square miles. It got its large size due to its early settlers’ aim to control all of the routes from Salt Lake City to California.

The third largest county in the contiguous US is Nye County, Nevada, at 18,159 square miles. Unlike Coconino County, it is only home to 57,336 residents, according to estimates from the US Census.

Cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon National Monument, east of Flagstaff. Prior to white settlement, the land around Coconino County was settled by nomadic hunters from the Great Plains, dating back 12,000 years. Much later, the Anasazi, more commonly known as the Ancestral Pueblo people, constructed adobe structures of mud and stone. By the 1600s, several Native American peoples lived here, such as the Hopi and Paiutes.

In the 1850s, a group of explorers used camels to explore the desert between El Paso, Texas, and the Colorado River. This group was known as the US Camel Corps, which successfully crossed the arid terrain.

Settlers would not begin entering the area until the 1870s and 1880s, particularly groups of Mormons and the Babbitt family, who began a logging and cattle ranching operation. The Babbitt family is still an important family in Coconino County today. Bruce Babbitt, for example, served as the US Secretary of the Interior under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. Gold mining was also a common activity here, especially when gold was discovered in Glen Canyon in the 1880s.

In 1891, with a population of some 4,000 people, Coconino County became a county, splitting off from Yavapai County.

Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon. The biggest attraction in Coconino County by far is the Grand Canyon National Park. This park is made up of 278 miles of the Colorado River, which carved out this mile-deep canyon.

Not long after Coconino County was established, President Benjamin Harrison declared the region a forest reserve in 1893. Tourism brought in many people to the Grand Canyon, especially due to the Santa Fe Railroad spur running out of Williams. One such visitor was President Theodore Roosevelt, who said in 1903, “Let this great wonder of nature remain as it now is. Do nothing to mar its grandeur, sublimity and loveliness.”

He would declare it a national monument in 1908, and Woodrow Wilson would officially declare the Grand Canyon a national park in 1919.

One of the most striking features of the Grand Canyon is how you can view the geological history of the Earth based on the rocks. The deepest layer is the Vishnu Basement Rocks, which formed 1.8 to 1.375 billion years ago. Above those are the Grand Canyon Supergroup, from 729 million to 1.25 billion years ago. The topmost layer is Paleozoic rocks, dating back to 270 to 530 million years ago.

A Church in the Supai Village, Havasupai Indian Reservation, Arizona. Just outside of the Grand Canyon is the Havasupai Tribe, which means people of the blue-green waters. Their village sits within the Havasu Canyon and is often visited by determined hikers willing to make the roughly four-hour drive from the Grand Canyon Village to Hualapai Hilltop.

The Navajo Nation is another Native Reservation, consisting of 27,000 square miles through Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. This reservation welcomes visitors through horseback tours, fishing at Lake Powell, and the more than 7,000-square-foot Navajo Interactive Museum, celebrating its homeland, stories, and traditions.

Other native reservations include the Hopi, Paiute, and Hualapai tribes. Of the total population of Coconino County, 26.6% identify as American Indian according to the Census.

A train station along Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona. Image credit Real Window Creative via Shutterstock Flagstaff is the county seat of Coconino County and the largest city by population. In fact, just over half of the population of the county lives in Flagstaff, with an estimated population of 77,260 people.

The city sits at a 7,000-foot elevation amid a ponderosa pine forest and is a popular central location to go exploring the many national monuments in Arizona, such as the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument or Wupatki National Monument.

The museums of Flagstaff honor many aspects of its culture and history, such as the Museum of Northern Arizona, with artifacts on the Colorado Plateau, and the 10 tribes that call the plateau home. It is often considered a first stop on the road to the Grand Canyon National Park.

Flagstaff also played a crucial role in astronomy as the dwarf planet Pluto was first discovered at the Lowell Observatory on February 18, 1930. At first considered the 9th planet, it was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006.

The Flagstaff Visitor Center is a stop along Route 66, offering souvenirs and information, along with the Museum Club, which was a former Route 66 roadhouse but is a country nightclub.

The snow-covered San Francisco Peaks, which hold Arizona’s highest point. The vast majority of the land in Coconino County is either public or Native land. In particular, Native reservations make up 38%, while the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management control 32%. The state of Arizona controls 9.5% of the land, with other public lands accounting for 6.8%. Of the total land area of the county, only 13.3% is privately owned.

Due to all this public land, outdoor recreation is easy to take part in across the county. Even beyond the Grand Canyon, there are many other points of interest to see, such as Arizona’s highest peak, the San Francisco Peaks at 12,633 feet, or the 1,960 miles of shoreline of Lake Powell. Coconino County is not just a big area of empty space; it contains some of the grandest monuments and parks in the entire country.