Arizona 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 moreRoute Fifty (December 21, 2021) by Andre Claudio From hiking to a lodge in California to riding a gravel bike in Arizona, Outside magazine composed a list of some of the best places to take a winter trip. Here are some of the places the magazine recommended: Hiking to a Scenic California Lodge If you want to backpack to a remote […]
Read moreFreehub Magazine (December 14, 2021) by Kait Boyle I winced, gritted my teeth and curled my fingers behind my brake levers as I pedaled straight into a thicket of pigweed, catclaw acacia and seedy grass. Thorns tore at my forearms and shins while the stickers of the pigweed rubbed against my open wounds and deployed their seeds onto every piece […]
Read moreThe 5th annual AZT Oracle Rumble presented by Summit Hut takes place on Saturday, January 29th near the beautiful, historic town of Oracle — located one hour north of Tucson in the shadow of the mighty Santa Catalina Mountains on the ancestral lands of the Tohono O’odham and Ndee (Western Apache). The trail running event is mostly singletrack around and […]
Read moreNative News Online (December 13, 2021) by Kyle Mittan When Lydia Jennings finally finished her doctoral program in soil microbiology, a lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic made celebrating difficult. But a national conversation on diversity and representation in many disciplines, including the sciences, presented an opportunity for Jennings, who had just earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Environmental Science in the University of […]
Read moreSingletracks (December 9, 2021) by Matt Miller The Arizona Trail Race started roughly 15 years ago, according to John Schilling, the ride director for the semi-official race. The AZT race is somewhere between 300 to 800 miles long, depending on the route. Participants sign up a month before lining up near the border between Arizona and Mexico, and over the […]
Read moreMen’s Journal (December 2021) by Berne Broudy The gear and apparel market is saturated with brands offering premium products. So how do you prioritize companies you want to support? We like to hone in on ones that boast premium goods and a sustainable model. One such company is Erem, a new desert performance boot brand founded by fourth-generation shoemaker Noah […]
Read moreTucson Lifestyle (December 2021) by David Abbott We often thank our military veterans for their service around the globe, but hiking enthusiasts in Arizona have another reason to appreciate vets — for their service as stewards of the Arizona Trail (AZT), through a new program designed to get them out into the wilderness. The Arizona Trail Association, a nonprofit established […]
Read moreJewish Insider (November 19, 2021) by Gabby Deutsch Growing up in an outdoorsy New England family, Noah Swartz didn’t have a choice when it came to hiking. The family business was Timberland, the footwear company known for its iconic brown boots, that his father sold for $2 billion a decade ago. But that didn’t mean the young Swartz was always […]
Read moreWe’re excited to introduce the Official Footwear of the Arizona Trail, created by our friends at Erem. Erem is the first outdoor brand designed from the ground up for desert performance and made with progressive environmental standards. Erem’s products are Biocircular™, meaning they only use materials with 100% proven paths back to nature and can be re-streamed at the end […]
Read morePayson Roundup (Nov 16, 2021) by Payson Roundup Staff Work is underway to improve the Highline National Recreation Trail (Highline Trail) on the Tonto National Forest. In September 2021, Tonto officials announced plans to improve and re-route portions of the Highline National Recreation Trail (Highline Trail) along with portions of the Arizona National Scenic Trail and trails in the communities […]
Read moreBackpacking Routes (Nov 8, 2021) by Hugh Owen Smartphone trail apps have become ubiquitous on hiking trails, providing real-time information about water sources, fire closures, hostels and shuttles to them. Their explosive growth raises a question: Are printed guidebooks on the way out? Not so fast, says Matthew J. Nelson, executive director of the Arizona Trail Association. “We have found […]
Read moreArizona Republic (November 2, 2021) by Mare Czinar Sometimes, surprisingly fine escapes can be found just steps from busy byways in right-under-your-nose places. Bushnell Tanks Road, off the Beeline Highway (State Route 87) roughly halfway between Mesa and Payson is one such find. Much of the road parallels part of the course of the Pine Mountain Passage 21 of the Arizona […]
Read moreFor the past four years, we’ve invited the Arizona Trail community to help us complete the entire length of the Arizona Trail in 24 hours through our ambitious AZT in a DAY initiative. This year, on October 9, at least 431 people participated. There were 357 hikers, 30 runners, 17 mountain bikers, and 27 equestrians. At least 91 family and friends […]
Read moreRunners World (October 25, 2021) by Taylor Dutch After dedicating years of intense study to earning a Ph.D. in environmental science, Lydia Jennings couldn’t wait to celebrate at her graduation in May 2020. But like most major events during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program’s ceremony at the University of Arizona was canceled. Instead of receiving her diploma […]
Read moreThe AZT’s main hiking route through the Pusch Ridge Wilderness is open. However, portions of the Bug Springs and Butterfly Trail remain closed due to the Bighorn Fire. These trails are the main route for mountain bikers on the AZT. Please review this map before beginning your journey: BHFTrailClosure09302021_1054
Read moreThe Desert Leaf (October 2021) by Linda Brewer Some people hike the Arizona Trail (AZT) in sections, called “passages,” accumulating a couple of hundred miles each year. Some people–the valiant thru-hikers–do it all in one go, with or without a support crew. Since 2017 there has been another way to complete the trail, the many-feet-walking method known as Arizona Trail […]
Read moreEarlier this year we asked active members of the Arizona Trail Association to participate in a survey to help inform our organization’s Strategic Plan for 2022-2026. A total of 763 ATA members took the survey (that’s more than 33%) and shared their thoughts and opinions about the greatest assets and challenges facing the trail and the ATA. Both quantitative and […]
Read morePhil Garcia 02/01/1968 – 09/25/2021 Phoenix, Arizona An avid hiker and trail steward, Phil Garcia enjoyed spending time in the outdoors of Arizona. Phil is survived by his wife Vikki, and children Cori and Wes. Phil was an avid traveler with his family, and loved hiking/backpacking, photography, DIY projects, and playing sand volleyball. He volunteered his time as a Phoenix Park Steward, […]
Read moreVelo News (September 29, 2021) by Betsy Welch On Christmas Eve of 2018, ultra-endurance mountain biker Kait Boyle wasn’t sure if she would ever walk again. Two years later, she set a fastest known time record (FKT) on the 137-mile Kokopelli Trail, a remote and arduous route between Moab, Utah, and Loma, Colorado. The new film Fastest For Now chronicles […]
Read moreThe Trek (September 28, 2021) by David Smith When you live in Phoenix, you escape what feels like endless summer by going to the mountains. Generally that means going to AZT country, either the Mongollon Rim or Flagstaff. A few days ago, we spent a few nights car camping near Mormon Lake, and I had the opportunity to do some […]
Read moreOn September 20, the Arizona Trail Association released a three-minute video essay featuring a diverse collection of outdoor enthusiasts urging Arizona’s US Senators to protect the Arizona National Scenic Trail by fighting climate change. The video includes inspiring imagery from various passages along the Arizona National Scenic Trail as well as footage of wildfires and extreme weather events that threaten the […]
Read moreArizona Republic (September 16, 2021) by Mare Czinar Slung between the edge-hugging dirt track of Schultz Pass Road and the sheer foothills below Mount Elden, Schultz Creek Trail rolls out like an emerald half-pipe. Because of its fluid, north-south track, hairpin turns and mild jumps, the historic route in the Mount Elden-Dry Lakes Hills area just a few miles north […]
Read moreNational Parks Traveler (September 10, 2021) by Barbara “Bo” Jensen Here at the border of Wyoming and Montana, Bad Pass Trail is all but invisible to me. It winds across the upper reaches of the Pryor Mountains through Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Road signs note I’ve crossed the trail, but I cannot see it stretching 50 miles from the […]
Read moreAugust 26th marked the first Seeds of Stewardship outing of the 2021-2022 school year! In fact, it was the first outing we’ve gotten to do with a school group since the lockdown started in March 2020. It was wonderful to once again bring the classroom outdoors. SoS instructors met Flagstaff Junior Academy fifth graders in Mrs. Chapman’s classroom for an […]
Read moreRegister today to hike, run or ride a segment of the 800-mile Arizona Trail, and help make history as we attempt to complete the entire trail in one day. Together, we can do it! Choose your segment and register for free today by visiting our AZT in a DAY event page. If you have any questions, please email karrie@aztrail.org.
Read moreBusiness Facilities Magazine (August 18, 2021) The coronavirus pandemic has forced everyone to rethink just about everything we do. It also has accelerated tectonic shifts in our cultural landscape, mostly for the better. We’re not going to use the word “woke”—which has become a political pejorative—but it does seem like most of us have abruptly woken up in the middle […]
Read moreWe are excited to announce the release of our Summer 2021 long sleeve tech shirts and cycling jerseys, featuring an original design from Shannon Villegas inspired by the San Francisco Peaks Passage of the AZT. All proceeds from the sale of this product will directly benefit mountain bike projects on the AZT, including rollover gates, singletrack construction to replace roads, […]
Read moreAuburn Examiner (August 4, 2021) by Lindsay Hicks When soldiers return from deployment and hang up their combat fatigues, a different kind of baggage sometimes lingers within that they can’t easily pack away. For some, connecting with nature provides the best respite from the weight that baggage brings. Flashbacks, hypervigilance, avoidance, survivor’s guilt, irritability, lack of trust, severe anxiety—these are […]
Read moreBackpacking Routes (August 2, 2021) by Hugh Owen Jordan Todoroff tried three times in the summer of 2020 to take backpacking trips near his home in the San Francisco Bay Area, but each time was turned back by wildfires. He was shut out again by fires twice this year. Jordan isn’t alone as wildfires fueled by years of drought are […]
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