BACKPACKER Magazine (May/June 2019) by Ryan Wichelns

We talk about solitude like its last bastions are disappearing. But there’s a place where isolation still rules and evidence of the last travelers is erased before the next ones arrive. You just have to head west to the vast wilds held by the Bureau of Land Management. There are few permits, fewer fees, and next to no people. It’s all the solitude you can handle–and sometimes just a little more.

For 800 miles, the Arizona Trail charges across its namesake, serving up equal parts desert glory and mountain grandeur. Within that, the BLM manages 45 lonely, dust-caked miles just east of Phoenix that pack in all the splendor but none of the crowds. And, according to the trailhead register, there’s an average of just five visitors a day. Echo-o-o-o-o-o-o!

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