Arizona Republic (April 22, 2026) by Joan Meiners One week before Earth Day, on April 15, the Department of Homeland Security convened a Zoom call with the Arizona Trail Association to explain that the agency had ordered the southernmost mile of the Arizona National Scenic Trail closed so that contractors could blast and grade the earth through Coronado National Memorial […]
Read moreAZPM (April 18, 2026) by Angela Gervasi A segment of the Arizona Trail is now closed to the public as border fence construction continues along the state’s southeastern edge. In a social media post Monday, the National Park Service said the closure was necessary to “ensure visitor safety” amid construction and blasting activity in the area. The closure, which applies […]
Read moreGearJunkie (April 14, 2026) by Mary Andino The 800-mile Arizona Trail (AZT) is a premier thru-hike. It’s one of only 11 specially designated National Scenic Trails, and hundreds of people complete it every year. Now, however, it will be obstructed, and hikers will be unable to traverse its entire length. Recent border wall construction has blocked access to the final mile […]
Read moreBeginning Monday, April 13, the Arizona National Scenic Trail is closed between the southern terminus at Border Monument 102 and the Joe’s Canyon Trail junction at mile 1.0. Due to construction activities associated with Dept. of Homeland Security’s border wall within Coronado National Memorial, the southernmost mile of the AZT is closed until further notice (likely through the end of […]
Read moreSFGATE (FEb 18, 2026) by Amanda Heidt It was a cool, breezy morning in early December when Myles Traphagen, the borderlands program coordinator for the conservation nonprofit Wildlands Network, joined a handful of people atop Coronado Peak in Arizona. Less than a mile from the U.S.-Mexico border, the mountain lies within Coronado National Memorial, a 5,000-acre stub of public land marking […]
Read moreYouTube (Feb 8, 2026) by Eric Hanson The Arizona Trail is one of the most iconic long trails in the country, as it runs 800 miles from The US – Mexico border up to Utah. For any thru-hiker, hiking the Grand Canyon State is an incredible achievement. But as of January 2026, construction resumed along the border in the Huachuca […]
Read moreIn November 2025, contractors for the Department of Homeland Security installed concertina wire at the U.S./Mexico border at the southern terminus of the Arizona National Scenic Trail. This prevents trail users from accessing Border Monument 102 — the traditional “start” or “finish” of the AZT. In the interest of safety, please do not attempt to cross the wire for a […]
Read moreArizona Republic (June 20, 2025) by Raphael Romero Ruiz U.S. Customs and Border Protection awarded more than $309 million to Fisher Sand and Gravel Co. to build 27 miles of border wall in Arizona’s Tucson Sector. This is the second contract for border wall construction awarded since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The new project will use […]
Read moreTucson Sentinel (June 5, 2025) by Paul Ingram As the Trump administration plans to erect 35 miles of new border barriers, environmentalists gathered last weekend in a Southern Arizona hamlet to trade food and songs during a bi-national “border happening.” Under the shade of large, decades-old cottonwood trees, a man from the nearby village of Santa Cruz, Sonora, played a […]
Read morePatheos (April 6, 2024) by Ken Chitwood In February 2019, Miguel stared out at the San Pedro Valley in Mexico, stretching for miles below him from his position on Yaqui Ridge in the Coronado National Monument. Standing at Monument 102, which marks the symbolic start of the 800-mile-long Arizona Trail, Miguel remarked on how the border here doesn’t look like […]
Read moreOur partners at Coronado National Memorial have observed an increase in immigrant foot traffic activity over the past few weeks. Visitors to Coronado National Memorial have reported seeing people in camouflage near the border and on the Arizona Trail, although no direct contact between the groups has occurred. If you’re planning a hike along Passage 1 this season, especially to […]
Read moreKGUN 9 News (April 5, 2024) by Austin Janos Cochise County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue crews embarked on a dangerous mission to save an injured hiker who was stuck on the Arizona Trail for multiple days. According to the group’s Facebook page, crews were notified by border patrol on April 3, about a 60-year-old man on the trail suffering […]
Read moreFronteras News Desk (November 23, 2022) by Alisa Reznick Environmental groups are watching closely to see how Arizona’s next governor, Katie Hobbs, will handle a makeshift wall of shipping containers the state is putting up along the border. The Ducey administration’s shipping container wall first appeared on federal land near Yuma earlier this year. Contractors began a similar project in […]
Read morePatagonia Regional Times (March 2022) by Robert Gay The first mile of the Arizona Trail (AZT), the much loved and well-trodden 800-mile path from Mexico to Utah, was closed in July 2020 when Border Wall construction began within the Coronado National Memorial at the Eastern edge of the San Rafael Valley. In that first mile of the Trail, starting at […]
Read moreKOLD TV (January 9, 2022) The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue crews confirmed they rescued an injured hiker on Sunday, Jan. 9. Officials said a 35-year-old man lost the Arizona Trail between Miller and Lutz Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains. While he was trying to relocate the trail, he slipped and fell approximately 20 feet, injuring his head, […]
Read moreKJZZ (January 3, 2022) by Alisa Reznick The Arizona Trail runs from the U.S.-Mexico border into Utah. But its southernmost point has been closed thanks to the Trump administration’s border wall construction. After more than a year of closures, it’s opened to hikers again on Dec. 31, 2021. Nestled in the Huachuca Mountains, the Yaqui Ridge trail overlooks Mexico. Matthew Nelson […]
Read moreArizona Daily Star (December 26, 2021) by Danyelle Khmara Trail runner Lydia Jennings decided to celebrate completing her doctorate with a 50-mile run on the Arizona Trail. A member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and an environmental microbiologist, she also did the run to honor 50 Indigenous scientists. She planned to start at the U.S.-Mexico border and run north — […]
Read moreKJZZ (April 26, 2021) by Michel Marizco There’s arguably no more divisive infrastructure project in the U.S. right now than this border wall I’m standing in the shadow of. I’m here with Kate Scott of the Madrean Archipelago wildlife center in Arizona’s Cochise County. We’re in the Pajarito Mountains west of Nogales where most of the work stopped on the […]
Read moreWANE-TV (March 25, 2021) by Fernie Ortiz Rescue crews plucked a woman from the rugged Huachuca Mountains of southeastern Arizona after she broke a leg while hiking alone, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection news release. The Cochise County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team requested air support to get the woman to safety after she became stranded on […]
Read moreNew York Times en Español (16 de marzo de 2021) Por Simon Romero y Zolan Kanno-Youngs La prisa para construirlo duró hasta el último día del mandato del expresidente. El esfuerzo dejó secciones raras e incompletas de una barrera cuyo destino está ahora en manos del presidente Biden. Durante mucho tiempo, los excursionistas que completaban el Sendero de Arizona, una ruta de 1287 kilómetros que […]
Read moreNew York Times (March 16, 2021) by Simon Romero and Zolan Kanno-Youngs A last-minute rush to build lasted through Donald J. Trump’s last day in office. The effort left odd, partially completed sections of a barrier whose fate President Biden must now determine. The sweeping view of undefiled wilderness on the border with Mexico long rewarded hikers who completed the Arizona Trail, […]
Read moreTemporary Trail Closure Due to a large Homeland Security based construction project along the US-Mexico border, the National Park Service is implementing public use closure at Coronado National Memorial, effective at 0001 hours on December 1, 2019. Pursuant to the authority contained in the 16 United States Code 3, and Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations, sections 1.5 […]
Read moreCustoms and Border Protection (CBP) announced their plans today to construct two miles of border barriers through the Huachuca Mountains within Coronado National Memorial and across the Arizona National Scenic Trail. Beginning Monday, July 13 the southernmost two miles of the Trail will be closed in the interest of public safety during construction activities. Click here to send a pre-formatted […]
Read moreTrail users should be alert at all trail junctions as signs may be occasionally damaged by bears, wildfires, or winter weather. South to north hikers must go left (not straight) at the Carr Peak Trail junction to follow the AZT.
Read moreThe AZT along the AZ/Mexico border continues to be impacted by people crossing illegally into the United States. Many new side trails are being created by dispersed foot traffic and AZT users should avoid mistakenly taking these trails intersecting the Arizona Trail (sometimes the AZT is less distinct than these foot paths). Trail users may meet immigrants along this passage, […]
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