Qualla: Arizona Trail

Arizona Trail: Introduction

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Dale Shewalter was a schoolteacher in Flagstaff, Arizona, and in 1985 he had an idea that most people would have dismissed as impractical: a single trail connecting Mexico to Utah, running the entire north-south length of Arizona. The route would climb through five of the state's mountain ranges, descend into and out of the Grand Canyon, and cross ecosystems ranging from Sonoran desert to alpine forest. It took 26 years, thousands of volunteers, and an act of Congress, but on December 16, 2011, the Arizona National Scenic Trail was declared complete. Shewalter did not live to see it. He died in January 2010, less than two years before the last gap was closed.

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Arizona Trail: Border to Border

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Arizona Trail begins at the Coronado National Memorial near the Mexican border and heads north through a procession of mountain ranges that reads like a geography lesson: the Huachucas, the Santa Ritas, the Rincons, the Santa Catalinas north of Tucson. Beyond the desert valle...

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Arizona Trail: Built by Volunteers

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Arizona Trail was not carved from scratch. Shewalter and his allies stitched it together from preexisting trails, connecting fragments across federal, state, and private land into a continuous route. In 1994, the Arizona Trail Association incorporated as a nonprofit to coordi...

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Arizona Trail: Copper Belt Buckles and Yo-Yos

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Completing the Arizona Trail earns you a copper belt buckle, a fitting reward in a state built on copper mining. The trail community recognizes finishers of all kinds: thru-hikers who walk the entire route in a single push, segment hikers who piece it together over years, speed-r...

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Arizona Trail: A Living Landscape

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Arizona Trail passes through more ecological diversity than almost any trail in North America. Hikers climb from cactus-studded Sonoran lowlands through oak woodlands, ponderosa pine forests, and spruce-fir stands near the highest peaks. That diversity also means hazards. Sum...

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