Arizona Daily Sun by Randy Wilson Bare winters in Flagstaff can be endured — providing you are willing to change equipment. That was my motto last Saturday as I switched out skis for a mountain bike at 9,000 feet on the Arizona Trail. It’s a February ride I had never expected to take — and probably won’t ever take again. […]

Mountain Flyer Magazine by Cass Gilbert If you don’t have time to ride all 800 miles of the Arizona Trail, then try the more compact Gila River Ramble, which borrows some of the very best sections of the AZT as its backbone. The main loop is about 80 miles in length, but there are various interconnecting spurs and trails to […]

Dirt Rag by Ross Downard In this day and age in the Lower 48, true adventure is getting harder to find, and going out and getting lost is almost a thing of the past. Hermosa Tours has found a way to put this kind of uncertainty back in the Sonoran Desert, specifically in a one-hundred-mile section of the Arizona Trail […]

Examiner.com by Denise Meredith Arizona, a relatively new state, is not known for valuing history. So it is refreshing when an organization takes the time to recognize an accomplishment that is not related to sports or entertainment. In a ceremony that was both jubilant and moving, on Saturday, February 1, 2014, the Arizona Trail Association (ATA) celebrated its 20th anniversary […]

Desert Harvest by Donna Derosia The February edition of The Fence Post (a community newsletter for the Robles Junction/Three Points community) features an article on the Arizona National Scenic Trail and the new guidebook. [To read the complete article online, click here]

Arizona Daily Star by Tony Davis It’s been known for a well over a year now that a jaguar has been photographed in the Santa Rita Mountains, near the proposed Rosemont Mine site. But only a little more than a week ago, volunteers for the Tucson conservation group Sky Island Alliance found and photographed the first jaguar tracks to have […]

Arizona Daily Star by Douglas Kreutz You can hike just a few miles on the Arizona National Scenic Trail — or trek its entire length of about 817 miles from Mexico to Utah. In either case, a comprehensive, richly illustrated new guidebook could enhance your experience. “Your Complete Guide to the Arizona National Scenic Trail,” by Matthew J. Nelson and […]

National Trails Guide Having completed the Triple Crown and most recently the Arizona National Scenic Trail, Fred Gaudet has been given a unique moniker on behalf of his accomplishments: “Triple Crown with a Desert Jewel!” Fred persevered through plenty of physical and natural challenges until he reached his goals. We interviewed him on behalf of our National Trails Guide fans […]

Flagstaff Business News by Bonnie Stevens It may well have been Northern Arizona’s first ultimate wildland adventure for tourists and the start of organized tourism in Flagstaff. In 1892, the Flagstaff Board of Trade, in partnership with the railroad, promoted the Stagecoach Line from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. Public relations efforts included a free trip for travel writers, who […]

Arizona Daily Sun by Eric Betz The mercury hit a frigid 21 degrees in Flagstaff on Saturday, leading to a chilly morning for those braving the cold to celebrate NAU’s 89th Annual Homecoming. But for a group of hardcore runners participating in the first Stagecoach 100-mile Ultra, the low temperatures were a major obstacle to completing a race from the […]

Tail Winds Magazine by Emily Gindlesparger “Did I ever tell you what ‘ass’ stands for?” Leigh Anne Thrasher asks me in her lilting Texan dialect as we’re driving carefully on Catalina Highway. When she’s not pulling the trailer on back, with the precious cargo of Jasmine the donkey inside, she admits she drives like a maniac, her pink-polished nails gripping […]

Mountain Flyer Magazine by Eszter Horanyi People race for different reasons. Some like to suffer. Some like the camaraderie. Some like to geek out on gear. I race in search of flow, for that Zen-like state in which time ceases to have meaning and I am completely immersed in the present moment. Few races this year have created such a […]

Outside Magazine by Aaron Gulley In April, I rode 300 miles in a through-push on the Arizona Trail in an annual bikepacking race that bills itself as “No entry fee, no prizes, absolutely no support.” Friends and family asked me why I did it—why I do any of these endurance races. Everyone acts like there’s some quick, straightforward answer. For […]

For a short video of the Arizona Trail southeast of Flagstaff near Marshall Lake (Passage 31), click here. Cox 7 TV does a great job of featuring this scenic segment across Anderson Mesa – a great summertime destination.

If Rosemont Copper is awarded their permits from the US Forest Service to build an open pit copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, a 10.6-mile segment of the Arizona Trail will need to be realigned to avoid mining impacts. Rosemont has agreed to pay for all costs associated with the new trail, as well as building two new trailheads, […]

Tucson Citizen Following up on its 2009 underwriting to construct portions of the Arizona Trail through Las Colinas passage, Rosemont Copper has agreed to underwrite all costs necessary to relocate a 10.6-mile portion of the trail to avoid impacts from the mine. [To read the rest of the article, click here]

Sunset by Dina Mishev An epic backpacking trip is one way to see the Arizona Trail. But a chill hiking weekend in the throwback town of Superior will do just fine, where you’ll find frontier ruggedness mixed with a Mayberry-in-the-desert vibe. The Arizona Trail, the Southwest’s answer to the Appalachian Trail, stretches from the state’s Mexican border to Utah. While […]

The Marana News by Matthew Nelson From saguaro-filled deserts near Tucson to the breathtaking San Francisco Peaks looming above Flagstaff, the natural wonders of Arizona provide unlimited opportunities for outdoor adventurers and nature lovers alike. Hikers, backpackers, trail runners, mountain bikers and equestrians agree that when it comes to exciting trails through inspiring landscapes, there is no place like the […]

Tucson Sentinel by B. Poole Hikers gathered in small groups across Southern Arizona on Saturday to hit the trails in tribute to the 24 people shot at a Tucson grocery store two years ago. “Anything that creates a greater sense of community, I want to support,” said Dan Moyer, 61, a retired Flowing Wells School District counselor who hiked the […]

The Sierra Vista Herald Huachuca Mountains Sierra Vista — Cochise County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue volunteers were hiking up to the Arizona Trail in the Huachuca Mountains Monday morning and afternoon in order to assist two hikers who were unable to leave their camp site following Monday morning’s snowfall. Sheriff’s Spokeswoman Carol Capas said the two men had set […]

The Desert Leaf by Bill Norman Hikers on Oracle Ridge Trail No.1 are stepping back through Arizona frontier history 130 years old. Unlike the smoothly paved expanse of Catalina Highway that today offers easy access to Mt. Lemmon from the south, only very rough trails—at best—were available in the early 1880s for hardy travelers wanting to crest out atop the […]

Pine Strawberry AZ News by Shara THAT Brewery & Pub, formerly known as Rimside Grill, will open their remodeled establishment on May 25 at 11 AM. On June 1, the Rimside name will officially change over to THAT Brewery & Pub. Tamara and Steve Morken are thrilled about their new venture and look forward to welcoming both loyal and new […]

Payson Roundup by Michele Nelson The Forest Service wants to encourage Payson residents to embrace their status as a gateway community to the 800-mile Arizona Trail which runs through Rim Country’s back yard. Completed in February on the state’s centennial birthday, the National Scenic Trail winds through 80 miles of the Payson Ranger District. [To read the rest of the […]

Outside Online by The Cycle Life Tomorrow, I set out to settle a two-year-old score. At 9 am on Friday, I begin my third attempt at the AZT300, a self-supported endurance mountain biking race in southern Arizona. The small-scale, unsanctioned event crawls through rugged, rocky, cactus-spiked Sonoran desert, often in blistering heat, though in some years there’s also been snow. […]

Men’s Journal by Daniel Duane Arizona, with its red-rock canyons and mountains jutting out of the desert, has been a mountain biker’s paradise since there’s been mountain biking. But the completion of the Arizona National Scenic Trail — which runs 817 miles from the Utah border south to Mexico — turns the state into a world-class off-road cycling destination. [To […]

The Desert Leaf by Bill Norman Picketpost Mountain pokes its big, fat snout 2,000 feet above surrounding desert like a rocky study in morbid obesity. The mountain’s brooding visage is a solitary one. [To read the rest of the article, click here]

Phoenix Magazine by Mare Czinar Finally, outdoor lovers have a boots-on-the-ground way to experience our state’s mesmerizing diversity, border-to-border. Just in time for Arizona’s Centennial, the state-traversing Arizona Trail has debuted on the national scene, joining the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails as one of America’s premier treks. It’s also one of the few that welcomes mountain-biking and horseback riding, […]

Outside Magazine by The Cycle Life On Monday, April 11, after three days, four hours, and five minutes of riding, Lynda Wallenfels won the Arizona Trail 300, a self-supported mountain bike through-race that roughly follows the Arizona Trail from Parker Lake Canyon, Arizona, near the Mexico border, to Superior, just southeast of Phoenix. In addition to scoring the overall win, […]

Arizona Daily Sun by Larry Hendricks Last year, I hiked a bit of the Arizona Trail from the Walnut Meadows loop off Walnut Canyon Road to Fisher Point. Now that the snow has melted, I’m thinking about rehashing the hike for some training. Photographer Josh Biggs and I are slated to go to the South Rim and hike down South […]

GORP.com by Karen Berger “Thorns claw at my sun-burned skin, and no matter how hard I bash my way through the shrubs, rubbery branches spring back and grab my arms and legs. An astonishing variety of barbs, briars, and brambles latch on and cling to my clothes with a tenacity you wouldn’t expect of a plant. I’ve learned to recognize […]