HikeArizona.COM

Is there a way to search for hikes that have cell coverage? The obvious areas on the east side are South Mountain and MSP. Any others areas? I am on call this week but am hoping to get out for at least a short hike.

I usually have signal in Usery Mountain Park / Pass Mountain.

@hikerdw
I am sure you are probably aware, but most descriptions...have a cell reception yes or no area...

I just learned something new . There is a cell phone signal section at the bottom of the description where the driving dirctions can be found..Yes.... No.... ????. It must be a question that is asked when the hike description is being created.
Not a searchable item though and not all descriptions have them either.

@BobP
Yup..its an option near end, when typing up description..I think its no by default, so maybe most people don't ever realize it is there...

True, the options are ???, Yes, No, High Points, ~Light, and Not in Canyon.

These options are entered by the person who writes a description, or changed by comments and corrections to the description. Keep in mind that one carrier may provide service in a specific area, whereas another does not.

I suggest you check the website for your specific carrier.

Websearch for "[carrier] coverage map" and you should be able to search into very close proximity of where you want to go. I find that most maps are a little bit generous with where they claim to have service, so you may want to stay in places where their map indicates stronger coverage just to be sure. The coverage maps do consider terrain, so mountains and valleys are usually reflected on the coverage maps.

Which is pretty much why it's not searchable anymore. The field was added back in the 90's when the Eagle had hair, Jim_H was pimping his weather balloon, Schulhauser bought his first maple leaf lawn chair & Elizabeth was building little raft replicas out of tongue depressors. It was snazzy and all the cool kids were doing it. Some of the remote canyons I received a signal seemed to defy logic.

It all but faded out of memory for a good decade until hiking with topohiker. He carries an old analog phone, says it gets better reception in the middle of nowhere.

Thanks, I appreciate all the suggestions/input. My carrier is Sprint which has poor coverage everywhere west of the Mississippi

@joe bartels
Thanks for the Generous comment....

You can piece together a lot of different loops around the Phoenix Mountain Preserve as well. Have always had decent coverage around North Mountain/Shaw Butte and Squaw Peak.

I get sprint coverage to my surprise in McDowell Sonoran Preserve(gateway TH and northern TH)

If you should need to use one in an emergency, please advise which trailhead you accessed from, the trail name and number and what map or reference material you used to obtain trail number or trail name. You need assistance in the Superstition Wilderness Area and you note that you have a signal. You call may be answered by Gila County Sheriff's Department via the Signal Peak Cell site located on Signal Peak South of Globe, or it could be picked up by the Pinal County Sheriff's Department via the cell site located on Signal Peak near the main campus of Central Arizona Campus near Casa Grande or picked up by a cell site and answered by Maricopa County Sheriff's Department. I have noted that Verizon seems to work better in Central Arizona and along the Mogollon Rim. Please note it may also depend on you cell phone as well.

Nighthiker wrote:If you should need to use one in an emergency, please advise which trailhead you accessed from, the trail name and number and what map or reference material you used to obtain trail number or trail name.

I'd recommend you begin the call by providing Lat/Long coordinates.

The one time I called for help (for a woman with a compound ankle fracture) I used my buddy's phone and called in the canyon along the Massacre Falls trail I got Mesa PD, which I did not know at the time because they just answered 911, what is your problem? or something like that (in retrospect... what was their problem!)
Anyway, the operator had never heard of Massacre Falls, First Water Road, and didn't even know where Lost Dutchman park was! By this time I was frustrated enough and with the signal cutting out I simply yelled here are the coordinates, you figure it out! and promptly lost signal never to get it again.

I ran the mile back to the fence line TH (when the TH used to be there) and called 911 again, this time getting Apache Junction, and I waited on the line for 20 minutes before they found out it was Mesa PD who took the original call... essentially nobody wanted to do anything if someone else was already responding, which in this case nobody was, even though they did in fact get the coordinates. 30 minutes later Pinal Sheriff fixed wing plane was circling over the coords I gave.

It's too long a story to go into it all, suffice to say I was almost astounded by the incompetence of EVERY governmental organization who got involved, Maricopa Sheriff (TH in Maricopa Cty) Pinal Sheriff (coord in Pinal) AJ Fire the ones who were eventually tasked with the response.
The only professional action I saw that day was from Superstition Search and Rescue who caught it by police scanner, and they, mere volunteers (in this case FAR from mere) did a flawless job, taking control from the inept 30-year old Paramedics who took 25 minutes to huff and puff the mile from the TH.

So my recommendation is:
1. Lat/Long coords right away
2. Explain the emergency
3. Add the details like TH, trail name/number as needed

If in need within the Superstitions or nearby you might in addition call these numbers to enhance the response time. If Sheriff Paul B. knows that you are requesting SSAR they just might leave the donut shops or Pork Shop and respond to you.

Emergency Number for SSAR: 480-898-4265 and or 24/7 Team Contact: 520-333-SSAR (7727)

Just sayin....

Depending on which cell phone site the call is routed thru a primary Public Safety Answering Point which is a law enforcement agency. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for the agency that took the call to transfer (best case) or likely take the information done and call a couple of agencies with the information (usually partial at best) thus a delay to figure out who is going to respond. It is not uncommon for several agencies to respond to the same call and unaware of each others response.

With regards to the use of Lat. and Long. most agencies dispatch folks unfortunately are untrained of this system and may not record accurately the information. I have been on several incidents where law enforcement and search and rescue agencies who could not utilize their GPS effectively, with the exception of MCSO and their Search and Rescue Unit and Central Arizona Mtn. Rescue.

By Arizona state law the Sheriff is in charge of Search and Rescue in their counties. When I was working for a fire department I have had numerous incidents where we were dispatched by a law enforcement agency, arrive at the trailhead and ordered not to proceed and wait until their resources arrived on scene which would take several hours. This can be disheartening to someone up on the Siphon Draw trail observe the fire department arrive and wait even though the valley fire departments has the resources, training and equipment to resolve the emergency in a timely manner.

If you have to summon help, remain calm, obtain as much information as possible regarding the pt., the extent of injuries, locations and relay this information to the 911 operator when asked. Please be patient if you call is transferred to another agency not once but several times when reporting an emergency.

I'd rather have haz members come look for me. Most Hazers can out hike all the different organizations both volunteers and the official ones. Luckily I have a few of them listed in my cell.

@BobP
Try to get lost on a Sunday or Monday if possible. Also, some place with a water feature would be nice.

I had great signal (3G!) on top of Weaver's Needle today...but pretty sure the description says no service... just sayin'... :whistle:

Probably the best thing to do is to know what Jurisdiction you're in...Every time I've called 911, the first thing I say is "connect me with Arizona Highway Patrol, Phoenix Police, Maricopa County Sheriff, etc...This really expedites things and gets you to the right Department right away, rather than make the Operator look it up...It certainly wouldn't hurt before you go, to look at a Map and verify whose Jurisdiction you will be in...Also, if you're in a "City Limit", if it's a Medical Emergency, you would ask to be connected with that City's Fire Department and not the Police Department....

I ran into the jurisdiction issue during that rollover on Seven Springs Road a month or so ago. It occurred in Yavapai County, and that's where my call got routed. It took a lot of my insistence before they figured out that sending Maricopa help from Scottsdale/Carefree was going to be an eternity faster than sending somebody down Bloody Basin Road from wherever in Yavapai they would be coming from! In the end, the DPS helo did the heavy lifting, and Rural/Metro arrived from the south later on. Even though it was out of their jurisdiction.