AZ Trail News

American West (March 14, 2022) by Dave Stamboulis Arizona gets most of its media attention for a couple of things. For one, a big giant hole up at its northern end, better known as the Grand Canyon, and also for being a sunny winter escape for snowbirds. However, to truly understand the extremes of terrain, weather and geology, nothing beats […]

The Travel (March 14, 2022) by Cynthia Levy Lots of people take a backpack, put on a stove, food, and camping gear, and head out to the canyons, plains, valleys, and hills once in a while. If one is searching for the perfect trail to hike, the infamous Appalachian trail will do. It was founded by Benton MacKaye, who founded The […]

KJZZ (February 24, 2022) by Ron Dungan The Arizona Trail runs about 800 miles from Mexico to the Utah border, and the Legislature may make the process of hiking it a little more pleasant. The trail has an abundance of scenery, but it can be short on water and hard to reach in places. The Legislature has helped with funding […]

Greenfield Recorder (February 22, 2022) by Mary Byrne A local man plans to hike close to 800 miles next month with the goal of raising as much money as he can for a cause close to his heart. This week, Shelburne resident Jonathan “Jon” Riordan will begin his drive west to Sierra Vista, Arizona for the start of the Arizona National Scenic Trail, the […]

Travel & Leisure (February 4, 2022) by Stacey Leasca Looking to get your steps in? Arizona is hiding the perfect trail for you. Arizona is home to arguably one of the most beautiful National Scenic Trails in the United States. Stretching from the U.S.-Mexico border all the way to Utah, its 800-mile trail — aptly named The Arizona Trail — crosses through […]

The Trek (January 20, 2022) by Sam Getchell Back to the Trail Some time has passed since my presence in this community. When I last wore the title as “thru hiker” I lay in a bunk bed in Mammoth California, June 2017. That was to be the last day of my PCT thru hike, lack of funds pulled me off […]

Williams-Grand Canton News (January 4, 2022) The National Park Service (NPS) announced Dec. 31 the temporary reopening of the Yaqui Ridge Trail, which is the southernmost part of the 800-mile Arizona Trail. The Yaqui Ridge Trail starts on the international border with Mexico in Coronado National Memorial. The trail was closed in July 2020 because of construction activities on the Border […]

The Trek (December 2021) by Lyla Harrod Here’s a recap of my fall 2021 SOBO thru-hike of the AZT with Oliver aka “Bowie”. This post will cover from the Northern Terminus to Roosevelt Lake. I’ll put up another post covering the rest of the trail soon! I hope you find this useful if you’re considering a hike on the AZT, or just […]

Route 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 […]

Freehub 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 […]

Native 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 […]

Singletracks (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 […]

Men’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 […]

Tucson 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 […]

Jewish 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 […]