Arizona Trail

Arizona Trail (AZT) is the National Scenic Trail running end-to-end through Arizona, stretching about 800 miles from the Mexico border to the Utah border. It’s a long-distance hiking route built from connected existing trails and now managed in a corridor split into 43 passages, with a mix of southern, central, and northern sections.

The route traverses deserts, mountains, canyons, wilderness areas, and multiple communities as it moves north through Arizona’s major ranges. Expect significant elevation changes across the year, with higher-elevation sections turning into snow-and-cold country compared with the lower desert begin-and-end stretches.

For planning, the trail’s design supports hikers and backpackers as well as other non-motorized users. The corridor is managed with passage-based upkeep, with trail stewardship organized around those 43 passage units.

A thru-hike is usually approached as a seasonally timed northbound or southbound effort: spring northbound starts in March into April, while fall southbound starts around October to November. That timing is typically used to manage water availability and snow risk as the route climbs into higher country.

Arizona’s finishers and communities are tightly coupled to the passage structure: the trail is divided into discrete legs, and the route’s “thru-hike” identity comes from completing all passages. The trail’s maintenance and upkeep rely heavily on volunteer labor and ongoing land-management coordination.

If you’re doing a shorter taste of AZT, the passage-based layout lets you pick specific legs rather than committing to the full 800 miles. The trail’s mapping and waypointing are designed around those passage boundaries, so section hiking stays close to the established AZT line rather than relying on guesswork.

More information: Visitor information, Wikipedia, Explore the Arizona Trail – The Arizona Trail