State Route 87 (SR 87) is a 272.66-mile (438.80 km) north–south highway that travels from I-10 near Picacho northward to State Route 264 near Second Mesa.

This section needs expansion with: Finishing the route description.. You can help by adding to it. (June 2020)

SR 87 begins 0.95 miles (1.53 km) to the north of I-10 at a junction with an unsigned orphan segment of SR 84, which serves as a direct connection to I-10 at Exit 211. SR 87 travels north for 16 miles (26 km) toward Coolidge, passing by the town of Eloy. In Coolidge, State Route 87 is known as Arizona Boulevard.

The highway leaves Coolidge heading northwest and travels as a two-lane rural road through the Gila River Indian Community, until it reaches a junction with SR 587 on the border between the Gila River Indian Community and Chandler. North of this junction, SR 87 travels along Arizona Avenue in Chandler, intersecting Loop 202 before entering Mesa and becoming Country Club Drive. The highway then intersects with U.S. 60 and SR 202 for a second time, before leaving Mesa as the Beeline Highway. The Mesa and Chandler sections of SR 87 are discontinuous, with most of these sections between McKellips Road in Mesa and Cloud Road in Chandler being owned and maintained by their respective cities. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ADOT-owned segment north of the Western Canal and south of Baseline Road forms the city limits separating Mesa from Chandler, and also the city limits separating Gilbert from Mesa. The only major portions where SR 87 technically exists wholly inside Mesa city limits (under ADOT ownership) is the area surrounding US 60 and then a short length south of the Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway north of McKellips Rd.

SR 87 is known as the Beeline Highway from McDowell Road, just north of Mesa, passing by Fountain Hills and to Payson. This portion of SR 87 is entirely a four-lane highway. There is a stretch of road where the highway splits, taking different canyons through the Mazatzal Mountains south of Payson, near the junction with SR 188. The old alignment is currently the southbound lanes, while a new alignment was built for the northbound lanes. There is a stretch where the roads cross-over each other because of the difference in elevations of the two canyons.

SR 87 is part of the National Highway System between I-10 and Payson. ADOT is currently studying a stretch of I-10 to widen and improve interchanges along its stretch from Tucson to Casa Grande, including the interchange with SR 87.

State Route 65
Location	Strawberry Junction to Second Mesa
Existed	1936–1967

SR 87 was designated in 1924 from Casa Grande to Mesa. In 1927, it was rerouted to end in Eloy, and the old route was renumbered AZ 187. In 1959, it extended to Strawberry Junction. In 1967, it extended north over State Route 65 to its current terminus. By 1983, almost half of the Beeline Highway, between Mesa and Payson, had already been widened to either three or four lanes; in 1989, work began to convert the entire highway to four lanes, and was completed in 2001.

Notable destinations along SR 87 include the Mogollon Rim and Tonto Natural Bridge.

In the 1930s Harvey Bush championed a highway from Mesa to Payson, crossing the Mazatzal Mountains, which became known as the Bush Highway. In the 1950s a cutoff was built between Mesa and the Saguaro Lake turnoff, bypassing a slow section of the Bush Highway and shortening the trip by 15 minutes. This cutoff was dubbed the Beeline Highway, and the name gradually came to apply to the entire route.

• 
  Driving south on AZ 87, from Winslow to Strawberry.
• 
  The Picacho post office, near the present southern terminus of AZ 87.

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Pinal	Picacho	114.82	184.78		I-10 – Phoenix, Tucson	ADOT signs this as southern terminus; I-10 exit 211
					Picacho	Closed interchange; was southbound exit only
					Eastern terminus of unsigned SR 84 segment
		115.77	186.31		SR 84 west (Casa Grande-Picacho Highway west)	South end state maintenance of SR 87; western end of unsigned SR 84 concurrency; Casa Grande-Picacho Hwy. is former SR 93
	​	125.92	202.65		SR 287 west – Casa Grande	South end of SR 287 concurrency
	Coolidge	134.75	216.86		SR 287 east – Florence	North end of SR 287 concurrency
	​	141.48	227.69		SR 387 west to I-10
	​	146.06	235.06		SR 187 south to I-10 – Casa Grande
Pinal–Maricopa county line	​	159.70	257.01		SR 587 south to I-10	Former SR 93
Maricopa	Chandler	161.18	259.39		Cloud Road	North end state maintenance
		N/A			Loop 202 (SanTan Freeway)	Loop 202 exit 47
	Chandler–Mesa line	170.20	273.91		Bridge over Western Canal South end state maintenance
	Gilbert–Mesa line	171.75	276.40		Baseline Road	North end state maintenance
	Mesa	172.33	277.34		Iron Avenue	South end state maintenance
		172.45	277.53		US 60 (Superstition Freeway) – Globe, Phoenix	Former SR 360; US 60 exit 179
		172.57	277.72		Holmes Avenue	North end state maintenance
		N/A			Broadway Road	Partial interchange; access via northbound exit ramp and connector road
					Main Street (Historic US 80)	Former US 60 / US 70 / US 80 / US 89; former SR 93 north
		176.74	284.44		McKellips Road	South end state maintenance
		176.99– 177.01	284.84– 284.87		Loop 202 (Red Mountain Freeway)	Loop 202 exit 13
	​	199.15	320.50	199	Bush Highway	Interchange
Gila	​	235.69	379.31		SR 188 south – Roosevelt, Globe
	Payson	252.58	406.49		SR 260 east – Heber, Show Low, Holbrook	South end of SR 260 concurrency
Coconino	​	278.51	448.22		SR 260 west – Cottonwood, Camp Verde	North end of SR 260 concurrency
	​	290.45	467.43		CR 3 north (Lake Mary Road) – Happy Jack, Flagstaff
Navajo	​	340.94	548.69		SR 99 south	South end of SR 99 concurrency
	Winslow	342.16	550.65		SR 99 (2nd Street)	One-way street; inbound access only
					SR 99 north (3rd Street west) – Flagstaff	One-way street; outbound access only; north end of SR 99 concurrency; no northbound access
		345.76	556.45		I-40 (US 180) – Flagstaff, Albuquerque	I-40 exit 257
	Second Mesa	406.04	653.46		SR 264 – Tuba City, Keams Canyon	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus

• SR 87 at Arizona Roads