I am currently new to Arizona, I moved here from PA. I am an avid hiker, hiked portions of the AT back east. I wanted to know if anyone has any suggestions for good hikes near by and if there are any hiking clubs in the area. I am currently living in Crown King, and know very few people (as the town has only about 80 full time residents.) Any help would be great. Thanks. Also wanted to find out about the AZ trail. Since I am new to this trail as well.
Blanco
Sirena www.trailjournals.com/sirena will be hiking the AZT this year. I’m sure you,ve been at the aztrail.org site. The trail is applying for National Scenic Trail status! Dave Hicks also maintains a site with lots of trail info and a small forum.
Happy hiking…I love the desert!
Marcia
I just wrote about some stuff in Arizona at blogs.lancasteronline.com/basecamp.
I’m from PA, too, and fell in love with Arizona the first time I saw it out the jet window. Amore prima vista!
Suvid
Dude no one knows where Crown King is. Enlighten me to this location. Jk Hey Az is great everywhere you go the hiking is beautiful. Sedona area, all around Tucson in the Catalinas. Around Flag, GCNP. Theres a ton of good books on Az hiking out there. Go check out the book section of your local Summit Hut in Tucson Phoenix or Flag. They’ll have all the AZ trails books you need. The Sierra Club on line has good Hiking information. Also the huge used bookstore chain in Az Bookmans is the best for all sorts of books of local interest. Tons of good net information Im sure youll find soon. Oh best tip ever. Before after or during your hike eat some Carne Asada Burritos from the local Taco SHop. In Tucson the Brand is Nico’s in Phoenix try the Filibertos. Tons of salt in these which you will lose through sweat. Have fun hiking in such a wonderful state. Snowshoeing is my thng lately here in the Sierra Nevada
guino
ditto on where you are. i’m visiting az from pa too - in prescott now - loads of trails in nat forest, altho not blazed. you lucky thing - this weather is perfect for hikers - enjoy!:girl
frogcaller
crown king is based about 28 miles up a dirt road in the bradshaw mountains. 40 air miles north of phoenix, south of prescott. basically in the prescott national forest. pretty awesome place to come for an outdoor adventure. some hiking (though most are not well marked or blazed), off roading, climbing, camping. one of the perks to living here. however not being from the area i am not familiar even with the surrounding places or know many people here. thanks for the tips. any other help would be great.
blanco
Crown King is/was a really nice area but that road certainly isn’t. The last time I drove it - back in the '70’s - it cost me TWO tires to get from the freeway (I-17) to Crown King! That’s a tire every 14 miles! I remember I had to change one of them in Bumble Bee (if that’s still there - there wasn’t much at all there then).
But still, it was a great place and just about the closest tall trees to the Phoenix area. Very Beautiful and well protected but nicely isolated.
Unless the area has changed for the worse, you are lucky to live there.
I now have a little piece of property near Walker (SE of Prescott) and there are numerous hiking trails in the area but I don’t remember seeing any blazes. Given my choice, I’d rather have the great land and area with any sort of trail, rather than a well-blazed trail through a crappy area.
Happy Trails,
Capt. Bly
Capt. Bly
Blanco,
Try going to HikeArizona.com. There is a ton of information on Az. trails and other related stuff.
George
A few websites you might want to check out for Az hikes:
ArizonaHikers.com An eating club with a hiking disorder. Social chit chat, regular group hikes, very informal.
HikeArizona.com Very professional site, tons of detailed hike information
VOAZ.com Volunteers for Outdoor Arizona If you enjoy th AZ outdoors and want to give a little back, monthly trail and habitat maintenance projects. Very well organized and all about having fun while doing good things for AZ.
Shawn
Hello and welcome to AZ Blanco. I am in the Phoenix area having moved here from NJ originally and have reletives in the Wilkes-Barre PA area. If you ever get down to this area the Superstition wilderness is a tremendously enjoyable area to hike in especially the Peralta trail and Lost Dutchman State Park areas. Although I haven’t hiked the area yet I hear that the Four Peaks wilderness is stunning.
And good luck to Sirena on hiking the AZ trail. I go to Trailjournals.com a lot and am always disappointed that there are so few journals from the AZ trail so I’m looking forward to reading that one once she starts.
Jeffrey
Bumble Bee is still there, but that road is much better (at least the road through Bumble Bee). I did it in a Malibu a couple years ago with no problems. It is a fun drive to get up to Crown King, take the Senator Highway (don’t be fooled it is really a dirt road) to Prescott and have dinner at the Gurley Street Grill.
Brittany