Arizona Trail

[cleo1943]

I recently moved to Scottsdale. I found the Arizona Trail in the internet. I would like to head south on the Arizona Trail on my mountain bike. I am on Hayden Road, a few miles from the Tempe Marketplace. Where do I pick up the trail? Thank you for any help that you can give me. Nelson.

[rcorfman]

@cleo1943
The Arizona Trail isn't near Scottsdale. Probably a good spot for you would be near Superior at the Picket Post trailhead. See the Arizona Trail Association web site for more information.

[John9L]

Here is a link to the HAZ map with all the segments plotted out.

http://hikearizona.com/map.php?X=49

[Grasshopper]

Here is a link to the HAZ map with all the segments plotted out.

http://hikearizona.com/map.php?X=49

You beat me to the punch, but here is another AZT map version a little less busy--> http://hikearizona.com/map.php?QX=4248 that shows the approx area where my new neighbor cleo1943 might live relative to our Arizona Trail

[nonot]

If you just moved here, beware that the Arizona trail heads into remote areas, and you may want to start off with small, easy trips to get use to the rough terrain, hot weather, and water resupply issues that are prevalent with trails in Arizona.

[kingsnake]

If you live in Scottsdale, there is a competitive training loop at McDowell Mountain Regional Loop: http://www.maricopa.gov/parks/mcdowell/ ... e-8x11.pdf ... which is not far away

[Grasshopper]

@kingsnake
Yes true if driving a motorize vehicle there, but Scottsdale has 11-12 exits off the 101N and our exit #1 (in South Scottsdale) is probably not within mountain bike range ;) but the Scottsdale Greenbelt http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=114 is

[ttretta]

I'm a mountain biker as well, and so far recommend either the northern sections or the southern sections of the Trail as more bike friendly. The sections in and around Flagstaff are really nice. Saw lots of mountain bike tracks when I hiked on 29 this weekend and saw lots of bikes staged for 30 when I finished. I've ridden 31 - 33. Haven't explored central and southern sections yet, but have mountain biked a lot near Tucson and am familiar with the areas the trail runs through.

[hikeaz]

Heather “Anish” Anderson is known for simultaneously holding the self-supported Fastest Known Time (FKT) on both the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. On October 27th, she added the Arizona Trail to that list.
Anish completed the Arizona Trail in 19 days, 17 hours and 9 minutes, making her the only person to ever hold the Fastest Known Time on three National Scenic Trails at once. Many had attempted to beat the previous self-supported FKT of 21 days, 14 hours and 16 minutes set by Adam “Krudmeister” Bradley in 2011. Most underestimated the terrain and the difficulty of the trail and fell short.