On May 18th, 2018, 9 members of the Flagstaff Junior Academy Mountain Biking Club had the chance to participate in a trail work day on the Deer Hill Trail with leadership from American Conservation Experience and Seeds of Stewardship staff. Whether mountain bikers, trail runners, hikers, equestrians, or motorcyclists, those of us who enjoy and use trails have the […]
Read moreBackpacker (June 2018) — On its 50th birthday, the National Scenic Trails system boasts nearly 19,000 miles. Not sure where to start? We’ve scoured the whole network to bring you the best 50 miles. Click here to read the article, which features 0.5-mile of the Arizona Trail within Grand Canyon National Park and 3 miles along the Buckskin Mountain Passage […]
Read moreVolunteers installed four of the iconic AZT steel gates on the north end of the project. Forest closures threatened the effort but the crew was able to get the work done within the time allowed, although extra water and several fire extinguishers were added to the equipment list. Six more gates are planned for this season but will have to wait […]
Read moreSt. George News (May 7, 2018) Mountain bikers of all skill levels are welcome and encouraged to participate in an 18-mile mountain bike ride along the Arizona Trail Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. MST, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. MDT. The ride will begin at the Orderville Trailhead in the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest. This segment […]
Read moreOn May 8, 2013, 69 students from Kinsey Inquiry and Discovery School 5th grade went out to do trail work on Little Elden Trail from the Elden Lookout parking area. With our friends from the US Forest service, half the class got to work tread repair and drainage while the other half went for a semester ending hike to […]
Read moreOn Saturday, May 5 a crew of stonemasons from Payson met with Passage 43 Trail Steward Paul Ostapuk at the Stateline Campground on the Arizona/Utah border to construct an official northern terminus monument. For anyone who has completed the AZT or visited this location, you know it’s impossible to determine where the trail ends. Not anymore! Carlos Rodriguez (RB Stonework) […]
Read moreWork resumed today on the Happy Jack Single Track project with installation of a kiosk at Gooseberry Spring TH, and relocation of the steel AZT Sign from Pine Spring TH to a new TH at Bargaman Park. An ATA Volunteer Vacation completed 1.7 miles of new trail last season, and things are starting to roll for this season. The HJST […]
Read moreAgriculture.com (May 2, 2018) by Lisa Prater Mustangs on a Mission, an epic six-month horseback ride from Mexico to Canada, was featured in the April 2017 issue of Successful Farming magazine (read article). The ride is the brainchild of Sara Sanderson, who was inspired by a 2015 documentary, Unbranded, about four men who took a similar journey to bring awareness […]
Read morePopular Mechanics (May 2, 2018) by Peter Reese A dazzlingly white blossom sways like a sea anemone. To its right, a jumble of tubular appendages resemble a maze of coral. The night sky’s yellow, green, and red traces mimic the luminescent lures of depth-finding anglerfish—but we are a long way from the ocean. Welcome to the Sonoran Desert, one of […]
Read moreOn May 3rd, 2018, 19 students from the 7th and 8th grade classes at the Peaks School took a 4 mile hike at Red Mountain near Flagstaff. The students had a chance to learn about the mystery of Red Mountain geology. How did Red Mountain end up in a Horseshoe shape with fused cinders, plagioclase crystals of olivine, hornblende, […]
Read moreIn May 2005, native Arizonan Mat Shannon completed his hike of the entire Arizona Trail. At that time, at the age of 72 years and 8 months he was the most senior person to hike the entire AZT. “It’s a great trail and not crowded” was his plain spoken words about the trail. Many hiked with Mat on his AZT trek but he was very proud that his […]
Read morePayson Roundup (April 27, 2018) by Michele Nelson My daughter Brooke walks the Arizona Trail (AzT). The long, winding ribbon of a path leads her up — then down — only to climb up again. I watch her progress daily from the SAT phone GPS coordinates she sends me each morning and evening. Who knew a series of numbers and letters could […]
Read moreWe coordinated two trail work events in Southern Arizona to commemorate Earth Day on Sunday, April 22, and to finish some much needed trail rehabilitation at Enzenberg Canyon in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains (AZT Passage 5). Saturday, April 21, we coordinated with a high school group from the Coronado Youth Corps (CYC) to repair a gate latch […]
Read moreArizona Daily Sun (April 24, 2018) by Jack Welch In this time of rare good news what follows is an inspiring tale about the Arizona Trail, lost equipment, and a remarkable hummingbird. Recently my friend Ellen Wade was involved in a hike to Fisher Point, and after she completed the adventure she realized expensive binoculars gifted her by husband Bill […]
Read moreEvery other year, the 3rd and 4th grade students from Ms. Cole’s class at Flagstaff Junior Academy does an intensive science unit of study on watersheds. In particular, they focus on our regional watershed, the Colorado River. To bring all of their learning together and into context, Seeds of Stewardship brings them to Lee’s Ferry to see the mighty Colorado […]
Read moreOn April 19th. 2018, 18 students from Peaks School traveled to the Flagstaff Loop Trail near Woody Mountain Road to help complete a new alignment and improve existing tread. This day with this group was so incredibly significant. When we first started working with this class they balked a the idea of eating lunch sitting in the dirt and […]
Read moreOutside Online (April 18, 2018) by Aaron Gulley Despite sizzling conditions, with temperatures in the high 80s, this year saw a slew of fast times at the 760-mile Arizona Trail Race and the shorter AZT300, with new records at both events set on the trail that traverses Arizona from the Mexico to Utah borders. Read the entire article here.
Read moreThe Arizona Trail Association has two proven strategies for significant trail improvement—the “cast-of-thousands” one-time work event and multiple, regularly scheduled smaller events. Mazatzal Mountains Regional Steward John Matteson organized the latter this year, taking on several tasks along the trail within the region but adventuring beyond as the opportunity arose. A core group of volunteers joined in this year and […]
Read moreOn April 18th 2018, 24 students from Mr. Doerfler’s 5th grade class from Kinsey Inquiry and Discovery School made a visit to Red Mountain in the San Francisco Volcanic field north west of the San Francisco Peaks Passage of the Arizona Trail. It was an absolutely magical day of learning, hiking and bonding. On our 4 mile round trip hike […]
Read moreCopper Area News (April 13) – On Saturday Oct. 6, 2018 more than one thousand people will participate in AZT IN A DAY throughout the state of Arizona. Hikers, runners, mountain bikers and equestrians will be staged on various parts of the Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZT) to complete its entire length, over 800 miles, in one day. This will […]
Read moreOn April 12th, 2018, 38 students from Ms. Esparza’s class at Sinagua Middle School traveled to Kelly Pocket to put in some work on the Kelly Canyon trail network. This brand new set of trails had been roughed in by machine and required significant hand smoothing and polishing to finish the work. Students leveled tread, improved outslope and naturalized […]
Read moreOn April 11th 2018, 22 students from Mr. Caslin’s 5th grade class from Kinsey Inquiry and Discovery School made a visit to Red Mountain in the San Francisco Volcanic field north west of the San Francisco Peaks Passage of the Arizona Trail. It was an absolutely magical day of learning, hiking and bonding. On our 4 mile round trip hike […]
Read moreOn April 10th 2018, 23 students from Ms. Elphic’s 5th grade class from Kinsey Inquiry and Discovery School made a visit to Red Mountain in the San Francisco Volcanic field north west of the San Francisco Peaks Passage of the Arizona Trail. It was an absolutely magical day of learning, hiking and bonding. On our 4 mile round trip […]
Read moreThe box culvert under Highway 77 near the northern end of Passage 13 often fills up with sand, making it difficult for anyone over 5 feet tall to walk through (and it’s impossible for equestrians). The ATA recently procured a special permit from the Arizona Department of Transportation to allow Rob Bauer to remove a few tons of sand from […]
Read moreThis year’s TSI Module on Stone Maintenance Structures was held near Flagstaff on the Lakeview Connector Trail on Passage 30, Anderson Mesa. This connector trail was built by the ATA to allow users to access the Lakeview Campground, and to allow campground users better access to the trail, which is just at the top of the mesa beyond a short […]
Read moreTrail Groove Magazine (Issue 36 – 2017) Part 1: Sky Island Tour – Drew Smith hiked the Arizona Trail in 2017 and said it was, “The sort of hike that anyone might want to do again.” Read the article by Drew Smith here.
Read moreSometimes the most powerful way to help people understand the impact of intentional damage to our public lands is to let them experience first hand all that is at stake and how difficult mitigation can be. On April 5th, 2018, 18 students from Flagstaff Montessori had the opportunity to do just that. Rangers from the Coconino National Forest Flagstaff […]
Read moreThe Arizona Trail and local craft beer was recently featured in the popular food and culture magazine Bouillon! published monthly in the Netherlands. You can see the original article from Eline van Nes here, complete with outstanding photographs. If your Dutch is a tad rusty, click here for the English translation of the article. More photos from Eline’s journey across Arizona in […]
Read moreOn March 27, 2018, 60 students from Flagstaff High School’s Pre-AP Biology class headed out to the Deer Hill Trail from Little Elden Horse Camp to learn about trail design, hydrology, and perform some trail construction on a reroute in the area. With such a large group it is imperative to divide up the students. 30 students headed out […]
Read moreThe skills training offered by the ATA in partnership with American Conservation Experience (ACE) has become hugely popular, and many classes are selling out well in advance. Such was the case with the Module 1&2 training scheduled for Superior on March 17th. Fifteen volunteers gathered near the Picketpost Trailhead to learn about trail context, how to study the effect of […]
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