Have you heard of the Arizona Trail?
It’s an over 800-mile-long trail for hiking, mountain biking, and equestrians that stretches across the entire state of Arizona, from the US-Mexico border to Utah. The trail is incredibly ecologically and terrain diverse, with deserts, canyons, and mountains—and it even passes through the Grand Canyon.
As a designated trail mapped on mostly public lands, with various water access points along the way, the Arizona Trail takes thru-hikers about six to eight weeks to complete. Most importantly, hikers have support and aren’t fully left to their own devices in the wilderness.
The idea for a designated trail was developed by Flagstaff schoolteacher Dale Shewalter in 1985. Construction on the trail began in 1988, and it was officially completed by 2011.
But before the idea was even formed, and decades before the trail was officially completed, two brothers made the 800+ mile trek.
In 1982, Troy and Gil Gillenwater, two Arizona natives, and their two mules hiked across Arizona and faced a multitude of obstacles, like hostile landowners and wildlife, that Arizona Trail hikers today don’t have to worry about.
