Explore Arizona’s Public Lands

Arizona Highways There are many ways to hike what’s commonly known as the Arizona Trail, which runs for about 800 miles from the Utah state line to the U.S.-Mexico border. Some hikers tackle each of the trail’s 43 segments individually, often taking several years to cover the entire distance. [To read the rest of this article, click here.]

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National Trails Training Partnership

American Trails Advanced trail training classes like Sustainable Trail Construction with Mechanized Equipment are for individuals looking for specific technical skills. Additional training topics will be added as the TRAILS program develops, and training programs can be created to meet the specific needs of land management agencies and trail organizations. To read the rest of this article, click here.]

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Citizen Hiker

Phoenix Magazine Tucson hiker Sirena Dufault is passionate about promoting the outdoors as a place for everyone and making it accessible to people of varied skill levels. As founder of Trails Inspire, a consulting business that fosters the connection between trails with communities, Dufault puts her knowledge and experience to work promoting trail use and tourism through her writing, photography […]

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Use Caution

The 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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Volunteers Rebuild Battered Highline Trail into a Much Better Hike

azcentral.com Mare Czinar Paul Paonessa, the project manager for Volunteers for Outdoor Arizona, has a name for the pre-rehabilitated condition of the Highline Trail #31: SOLPOST. The sobriquet, which was coined by Woody Keen, former director of the Professional Trail Builders Association, is an acronym for “Scar on the Land Piece of S–t Trail.” [To read the rest of this […]

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Passage 13 – Oracle

November 15, 2017 The Saddlebrooke Hiking Club hosted their regular third-Wednesday trail maintenance day with Ray Peale and Wendy Lotze leading teams clearing brush and repairing drains near the American Flag Trailhead. Ample summer rains afforded the thorny and prickly desert vegetation plenty of opportunity to grow into the trail corridor, and this team attacked it with vigor, making it […]

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Passage 17 – Alamo Canyon

November 10-12, 2017 Over Veteran’s Day weekend, the Arizona Backpacking Club and other volunteers were supported by the M&F Jeepers in their maintenance of Passage 17a near Superior. The jeep club donates their time, gas and rubber to transport food, water and tools to the volunteers, who hiked the 9 trail miles in to basecamp. The jeep group also stocked […]

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Passage 18 – Reavis Canyon

November 7, 2017 One of the Arizona Trail Association’s standing goals is to remove the trail from two-track roads where possible. HAZ maps (well, really any version of the topo maps, but I get mine on HAZ) revealed a low-hanging-fruit option — the old Reavis Trail south from Rogers Trough TH. This half-mile route appears on older topo maps and […]

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Passage 28 – Happy Jack

November 5, 2017 An intimate crew of four worked to complete the 1.6 mile reroute started by the Volunteer Vacation team in October. Approximately ¼ mile of trail needed to be cleared in order to abandon the old trail which primarily followed an eroded forest road. Using a power trimmer, picks, hoes and sheer stubbornness the team scratched the trail […]

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Passage 29 – Mormon Lake

November 4, 2017 Volunteers joined Zach McDonald and Wendy Lotze on the Mormon Lake passage to repair tread on the climb out of Double Springs Campground. While it was still roasting down in the desert lands, the pines were cool and comfortable as the group worked on a half mile of trail between the campground and the Lakeview Trail junction. […]

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Passage 13 – Oracle

October 18, 2017 Summer rains bring overgrowth, especially catclaw bushes, on the Oracle Passage of the Arizona National Scenic Trail. Catclaw thorns draw blood when hikers get too close. Sixteen members of the SaddleBrooke Hiking Club mounted an assault on the extensive catclaw bushes threatening hikers on a portion of the Oracle Passage. The battle with the catclaw bushes is […]

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Eyes Out For Cairns

The trail traverses long stretches of gently sloping volcanic boulder fields. Cairns mark the way along the low-use trail, which can become rather obscure from grassy overgrowth in the spring. Cairns are the same color as the surrounding rocks, so users must train their eyes to recognize them more by shape than color.

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Passage 12 – Oracle Ridge

October 15, 2017 Summit Hut and the Tucson Backpackers held an event on the passage 12a, clearing brush from the trail near the Control Road parking lot. This portion of trail has been impacted by multiple fires over the last 15 years, and the regrowth of plants like oak, locust and ceanothus is aggressive. Volunteers armed with loppers, saws and […]

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Local coffee roaster adds Arizona Trail Blend

CopperArea.com The Arizona Trail has a craft beer named in its honor. But great news for coffee drinkers. It now has its own blend of coffee. Sky Island Roasters located at 1575 W. American Avenue in Oracle introduced its newest blend a few months ago. They partnered with the Arizona Trail Association to produce the AZ Trail Blend, a blend […]

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Tackling the Arizona Trail

The Herald Review With a passion for the outdoors, Rep. Martha McSally is launching an initiative to promote Arizona’s natural beauty and diverse landscape across the state. On Saturday, she led an entourage of hikers from the Coronado National Memorial parking down the Arizona Trail to its starting point at the Arizona/Mexico border, highlighting the trail while calling attention to […]

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Passage 29 – Mormon Lake

September 30, 2017 Peace Surplus and the ATA teamed up to present an event on the Arizona Trail to celebrate National Public Lands Day near Mormon Lake. Twenty-two volunteers came out to give back to the public lands that they love on the Coconino National Forest. Segment steward Conrad Langley lead one team in rehabilitating a portion of the trail […]

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