Hello hikers!

For winter break (Dec-Jan), I was planning on visiting Phoenix and doing a 5-week backpacking trip from Phoenix to Flagstaff. One of the 'sections' is through Superstition Wilderness. Currently, I am planning on entering through the west side of the wilderness and joining the AZT at Reavis Ranch trail. Does anyone know if the Reavis Creek is reliable? If not, is there any other reliable water sources on the AZT within this wilderness?

Thank you! I probably will have some more questions for other 'sections' on this 5-week trip haha

Trying to be a “trail angel”. I live in tucson and want to take goodies as hiker comer down mt lemmon

For people who’ve hiked going SOBO…

1. How frequently did you run into other hikers? Did you have a trail fam?

2. What percentage of time did you camp alone?

3. What’s the trail town experience like?

4. Any insight on the social vibes in general going SOBO?

Hey folks! I'm planning on hitting the section between Oracle and Superior over spring break 2025, and I'm wondering if anyone would have advice on the cheapest way to get form the Tucson airport to Oracle? I could just book a taxi but I'd like to avoid that if possible. Any ideas? Also if anyone is heading out there around the same time (March 17 or so) hit me up!

Hi everyone,

I'm planning a week-long New Year's backpacking trip with a friend on the AZ trail.

We're looking for a 60ish mi long stretch of the most scenic passages of the central part of the trail.

Can you please include information about water availability, weather, or any other tips for that time of year for those passages?

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Happy trails y'all! ✌🏻

I am coming from the EU. i will be starting on March 17th and probably end up late April so I have to plan in advance.

How is the sun in the south part of the Trail. Do i need to bring a sunbrella or just a sun hoody will do. What would be your advice to go from Tucson to Sierra Vista where i plan to stop for one day to get over the jetlag

I plan on starting the AZT nobo on 4./5. April 2025. I am from EU and on a tight schedule. Is an early April start too early if you are a fast hiker? I plan to hike sub 30 days. So ending around early May. I know that early April is considered a reasonable start date but this advice usually does not take into account how fast/slow someone's hiking. I plan to do around 25+ mile days right out the gate. I am not a huge fan of sketchy snow and crazy low night temps.

I have from Feb 15 to Apr 15, and it's been 5 years of living in at sea-level since my last hike of meaningful length. Because of the sea-level thing, I don't want to immediately run up Miller Peak and make myself sick or risk injury. Add to this a half decade of not hiking, and I could use 100 miles of rolling land before a serious climb anyway. Starting so early, I know I'll be dealing with freezing temps pretty much every night, snow on mountaintops, from what I've read here, potentially heavy mud in places, and of course the usual long hike woes.

Long story short, I'm thinking about flip-flopping out of Picketpost. Is that a reasonable idea during the 8 weeks I have, or should I find another trail, and come back another year?

Hey all,

I wasn't able to start the AZT till late in the season and chose to start 100 miles south of state line because of weather (a decision I dont regret at all) although I plan on doing the northern section in spring, I also was really looking forward to doing 800 miles all in one go.

So I'm looking for suggestions for 100 mile hikes in southern AZ or the low desert with tolerable temps in late November/early december? Right now I was thinking about finishing at mexico then going back up and doing a part of the G.E.T. which is also on my thru-hike bucket list, but if there are any longer trips near Sedona or closer to Tucsan then that would also be cool. In general, I'm not that familiar with southern AZ so really looking forward to suggestions.

Hi all, I'm a 3rd year uni student, and lately I've been thinking about my after-graduation plans before I enter the working world, and I came across the AZ trail.

My tentative plan would be to go SOBO, with a september-ish start date (I would be in classes until mid/late aug), which is kind of atypical because most people start late october for the 2nd season, but I want to do this directly post-grad.

Unfortunately, most of my friends graduate later than me, so I would probably be hiking large portions of it alone. I would probably hike the first chunk with my dad though. How is it for safety? I'd be a solo female hiker, and I've never really done backpacking without another person before.

I've never done any thru hiking before. I generally backpack for a week 1-2 times per year, ~50-80km per trip (I find it difficult to make time for it with school). All of my backpacking experience is in northern and coastal British Columbia and the Canadian Rockies, so this terrain would be vastly different from what I’m used to. I’d love to do the GDT or another thru-hike with more familiar terrain and hazards, but a September start date just wouldn’t work for those.

TLDR: is the AZT a crazy idea for a intermediate, solo female hiker, who has never done a thru hike (and has done all of her backpacking in western Canada)? Also, is september a fine start date?

looking at the AZT for a potential weeklong backpack trip for March. how is the weather during this time? What sections would you recommend? any tips for transportation from major cities where there is an airport?

I’m heading out for a section of AZT on Monday, starting up at Mt Peely. Plan to head SoBo and leave my rental car at end point. Wondering if there are any services that could get me a ride back to Scottsdale (or anywhere I could catch an Uber I guess) tomorrow evening so I can leave my car there.

If there are no options, I’ll plan on leaving car around lost Dutchman, which may give me a more scenic superstitions finish, but adds on a good amount of mileage, so wanted to see if there’s a way I can shuttle from picketpost. Suppose I could also shuttle when I do finish, but seems better to have car there…

 Hi everyone,

I’m going to hike a section of the AZT in spring and am very excited for it! During my research I’ve seen a few blogs /vlogs where hikers have had problems with mice really going to town on their kit, eating up their shoes and tents etc overnight! Is this a common problem? Any tips for keeping them at bay? Thanks!

I am looking for a long backpacking/short through hike to do this December and have been looking at the Arizona Trail. What sections are best for the winter months and might have good water sources not much snow and still be rad? Not too concerned with too much elevation gain, as a PNW boy I prefer that to blazing heat! Also are permits ever an issue? Thanks in advance!

I switched to CCF after my X-Lite sprung a leak and found that I sleep just fine on foam. I have been using a Nemo Switchback (R-value 2.0) with a GG Thinlight 1/8" foam pad on top of it (R-value 0.5). Right now the Switchback is full length but I plan to cut it down to 8 panels, and leave the GG Thinlight the full length. I know the R-value for this system is only 2.5, but I have read in various places that foam pads tend to provide more warmth than their R-value would indicate, compared to inflatables.

Is this system going to provide enough warmth for a typical March NOBO thru hike? Has anyone else used just a Switchback or Z-Lite Sol for the AZT and can comment?

I'm considering if this year is the year to do this trail. I think I have commitments right through the end of March.

I have done the first 900 miles (up to Mammoth) of the PCT as an attempted thru. I feel like I have the experience I need. The solitude and the lack of a hiker bubble appeals to me.

Greetings from Scotland.

With a Spring 2025 NOBO in mind I'll probably take my Notch Li and I use an air mat (at 60+ the ground gets no softer) and would prefer for it to survive puncture free...

What are people using as footprints? I hear spiky things might be plentiful?

I've done the PCT (all but Washington) and don't remember ground being bad in SoCal desert sections where I used the thicker polycryo...?

Thanks.

Planning to section hike nov 1st to the 16th and aiming to do between 200-300 miles ish. Want to start before saguaro and go north but without the complications of getting to the southern terminus and without starting too far north where I'd start to hit bad weather/higher elevation

Any thoughts on best place to Uber to from Tuscon to start the trail without missing anything super cool/scenic in the southern half before saguaro?

Also thoughts on water situation at this time of year? Will obviously do my own research and have farout (experienced thru hiker) but just looking for feedback and tips for a November hike from this group as a second round of resources/feedback to go off as well

Planning on starting the AZT in mid march, possibly the 19th. Anyone else planning on hiking nobo around the same time as me?

Just curious as a '23 SOBO who lives out East. Last year was on the dry side but not very hot by late Oct.

Hi folks,

Planning a section hike and am curious to know whether Uber would likely take us to the Loma Alta trailhead? We've looked into shuttles, and it's kind of pricey but may be a safer bet. Thanks in advance!

So I've sort of kept this bottled up for a while but I feel like it'll be therapeutic to say it out loud. Downvote if you want; I do realize this is my personal opinion, not some sort of objective fact.

Here it is: the northern AZT is very poorly thought out.

It starts with a poorly-chosen route up the Rim. The Washington trail follows an awful set of telephone lines up a dry, rocky trail while See Canyon and Tonto to the east are both verdant green and follow perennial rivers. A pointed decision was apparently made to miss Fossil Springs by traveling a little bit further west. Then the trail stays east, missing West Clear Creek, Wet Beaver Creek, Sedona (WTF!!!). And what does it do instead? A careless beeline to Flagstaff where the highlight is, of all lame things I would never hike outside the AZT, Mormon Lake.

Even when there's a cool landmark, it gets avoided. The southern AZT takes you over the Sky Islands (Mount Lemmon is a big highlight but gracious they're all awesome). Northern AZT goes around the San Francisco peaks, skipping the Weatherford Trail, Lockett Meadow, Inner Basin, and the highest peak in Arizona! Walnut Canyon is treated more like an obstacle than a beautiful canyon replete with astounding evidence of Arizona's indigenous history. It's like the AZT designers don't think there's anything worth doing or seeing north of the rim except the Grand Canyon. And after that? They skip the Vermillion Cliffs and one of the world's longest and deepest slot canyons. Instead, the trail ends at some random campground.

I understand some of the considerations. Going cool places like Sedona adds miles. Going into Walnut Canyon or up Humphrey's Peak adds difficulty. Buckskin Gulch can be temperamental and add logistical challenges and potential safety issues. But with the lovely treatment southern Arizona gets, it's bizarre to me that the northern AZT is so bad that it's talked about as "get it over with" mileage, essentially punctuated by the Grand Canyon. When people say "I want to come to Arizona for a section hike", nobody talks up the northern sections outside the GC.

It's still a wonderful thru hiking experience. The north can be a testament to the beauty of vastness at times, quietness and solitude at others. But fuck if it isn't poorly designed when you consider the opportunities it avoided.

Edit: The point I'd make for people being argumentative and defensive in the comments is not about my rant's half-baked ideas. It's that the northern AZT is widely considered boring. This is a serious problem, and problems deserve solutions not excuses. Underneath all my complaining, I know we all love this state and we love this trail and that's why I wish it could leverage our state's beauty to become a more beautiful experience. It is not okay to ask people – many of them out-of-staters who don't know better – to invest 800+ miles of their time on a trail that bills itself as a "scenic route" representing Arizona ... only for them to realize they need to re-hike northern Arizona if they want to lay eyes on its celebrated landmarks.

What I do fully, fully, fully respect is peoples' positive experiences. You can't deny that, boring trail sections or not, people are still having profound, fun, challenging, life-changing experiences on the northern half of the Arizona Trail. So happy trails to all of you!

Hey everyone! My name is Treven Hooker. I work for the Arizona Trail Association and run an internship program for youth. This is a free internship program that trains youth between the ages of 14-18 to be ethical naturalists, land stewards, and prepares them for environmental careers. If y'all know of any youth in and around Tucson who could benefit from this opp please encourage them and their parents or guardians to email me. My email is at the top of the flyer!

https://preview.redd.it/hls1j2nmi0ud1.png?width=1088&format=png&auto=webp&s=aff30c51e9325cbaaab6d6565cc116fc7d446b89

I'm planning on section hiking passages 8-11 the first week of November. Almost all of my backpacking has been in Alaska and I have never backpacked in the desert before so I'm hoping to get some advice. I'm excited to try cowboy camping but I'm wondering if I could leave my tent behind, or would that be insane? Same goes for rain gear, is it crazy to leave that behind too?

Just seeking anybodies wisdom, experience, or knowledge about getting to Payson and back to Sunflower if I want to resupply instead of packing it all the way to Pine from Roosevelt. How hard is hitching? There aren't any shuttle type services are there?

Hi guys, for the last 4 months I have been hiking the appalachian trail southbound. Due to hurricane Helen I am not going to finish this year. I still have two more months budgeted for thru hiking and I am looking into the Arizona trail. The AT has been my only thru hike I have attempted so far. I want to know if october is a reasonable time of year to start the Arizona trail and what gear I might need to swap out. Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.