On Friday, March 6, 2026, I started northbound on the Arizona National Scenic Trail from Montezuma Pass two miles north of the international border with Mexico in Coronado National Memorial (I added some new photos to that blog post). I hiked down to the border before turning around to pick up my backpack. My mother has been my trail angel and support crew for the first five days and 100 miles of this journey. I would not be doing this without her!
I climbed above 9,000 feet of elevation into the Huachuca Mountains within Coronado National Forest and down through the Canelo Hills across Highway 83 north of Patagonia into the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains to reach the 100 mile point. Wednesday I am taking a “zero day” off the trail in Tucson.
Since the Arizona National Scenic Trail cannot be done as a thru-hike this year, I took a non-traditional approach and started at Mile 700 in Grand Canyon National Park. Due to last summer’s Dragon Bravo Fire, more than 20 miles of the trail is closed on the North Rim. The six-mile stretch of North Kaibab Trail to Ribbon Falls opened up this week, so I made a reservation to spend the night in Bright Angel Campground. The weather was perfect, the scenery sublime, there were lots of ravens flying around, and (as I read) this time of year there were no bugs so I “cowboy camped” without a tent. What a privilege to get a campsite in such an incredible place listening to the creek. I carried my full backpack the seven miles down to the campground, then stashed most of my gear, refilled my water bottle, and headed six miles to the thigh-deep stream crossing for stunning Ribbon Falls, with an elevation gain of about 1,900 feet from the Colorado River. All told, I descended about 7,000 feet across 23 miles on Wednesday, but my left knee held up really well, either due to all the training or trekking poles. Thursday morning I made the hike out in three hours, impressing myself. I feel ready for the physical challenge of the 800-mile Arizona Trail! I am very grateful to be able to choose to do this hard and rewarding type of activity in my beautiful home state.
This week I am starting out northbound on the Arizona National Scenic Trail. According to the official website, it is 800 miles (with 105,000 feet of cumulative elevation gain) from the international border with Mexico in Coronado National Memorial to the Stateline Campground on the Utah border in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. Due to last summer’s Dragon Bravo Fire in Grand Canyon National Park, more than 20 miles of the trail is closed on the North Rim making a thru-hike impossible this year. Since I am already in northern Arizona, I am going to begin by backpacking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon to spend one night before turning around and driving south to the official start. That will be on Wednesday! Once I return to Grand Canyon National Park (Mile 700), I will get a ride north to finish up the trail.
I recently moved back to Arizona for the 5th time in my life and I thought backpacking across the state would be a great way to reconnect. If you haven’t already read it, check out my 7-day Arizona Road Trip Itinerary with plenty of options to make it a month-long visit.
Once I finish the Arizona Trail, then I will get back to writing my latest guidebook American History 101: Reliving a Country’s Past at 101 National Park Service Sites, which I hope to publish by July 4, 2026, for the 250th anniversary of the vote to approve the Declaration of Independence.
Here are links to my blog posts on the public lands I will be traversing on the Arizona Trail:
On July 17, 1944 at 10:18 p.m., a massive explosion at a U.S. Navy facility rocked the San Francisco Bay area. The blast started at a pier where munitions were being loaded onto two ships and killed 320 men. The majority of the dead were African American sailors who were segregated at the time and not allowed to serve in combat roles or as officers. After refusing to return to unsafe working conditions, 206 sailors were convicted after a summary courts-martial, and the “Port Chicago 50” were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for mutiny. After receiving negative publicity, the Navy actually became the first of the military branches to integrate during World War II, well before President Truman required it in 1948. On January 6, 1946, the Navy released 47 of the 50 men being held and in 2024, the Navy posthumously exonerated all 256 men and vacated any remaining dishonorable discharges.
Highlights
Memorial, film, revetment
Must-Do Activity
The memorial is located on an active military base called Military Ocean Terminal Concord on Suisun Bay. Therefore, all visitors are required to be U.S. Citizens and must make a reservation at least two weeks before their visit by calling or emailing the National Park Service (NPS) to receive a background check. Tours are given only on Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays and meet at John Muir National Historic Site (where you can watch a short film) in Martinez where the group boards government vehicles to drive to the site. After a thorough search of the vehicle and each visitor getting checked off a list, it is a short drive to the memorial where the NPS ranger explains the history of the site at two locations with time to walk around and take photos (but only of the memorial area).
Best Trail
None
Photographic Opportunity
Shrapnel from the 1944 blast is located at the first stop on the guided tour where historic train cars are parked in a revetment.
Peak Season
Summer
Hours
Tours are available only on Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays when the base is not closed to civilians.
Explore More – What future Supreme Court Justice observed the courts-martial and has a regional park named in his honor near Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial?
Originally called California National Forest in 1908, this area between Interstate 5 and Highway 101 was renamed Mendocino National Forest 24 years later. It stretches north-south along the Coast Range covering parts of six counties north of San Francisco. Similar to Los Padres National Forest, it contains rocky serpentine ridgelines where only specially adapted plants can tolerate the heavy metals in the soil, like Sargent cypress and the shorter McNab cypress. Both species can be found along Frenzel Creek near Little Stoney Campground. In 1953, a Forest Service employee and 14 volunteer firefighters died in the Rattlesnake Fire and a memorial overlooking Rattlesnake Canyon is located off Forest Highway 7 on Alder Springs Road. Mendocino National Forest includes the northern portion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (see our full blog post), established in 2015 and administered in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management.
Know someone who loves the National Forests? Gift them our travel guidebook Out in the Woods so they can learn more about all 155 National Forests.
There are 18 National Forests in California (the most of any state), but Mendocino is the only one not crossed by a paved highway. It is a wonderful destination for outdoor recreation, both motorized and non-motorized, including Hull Mountain which is popular with hang gliders. Lake Pillsbury is 2,280 acres and offers boat ramps, campgrounds, and a resort, while 35-acre Letts Lake has a campground and access to hiking trails.
Best Trail
As we drove the winding road from Stonyford to the tiny roadside pullout for Deafy Glade Trail, we passed campgrounds full of RVs that were getting ready for a motorcycle event. Our hike took us far from any road noise, as we dropped down to and waded across the frigid South Fork of Stony Creek and then climbed steeply to 5,300 feet in elevation. The trail continued to the summit of 7,056-foot Snow Mountain, but we already had great views of the Rice Valley and decided to turn around at the 4.5-mile point, just inside the official boundary of the Snow Mountain Wilderness. We expected a desolate landscape after reading about recent fires, but about three-quarters of the trees along the trail were still alive and showed only minor charring at their bases.
Watchable Wildlife
Mendocino National Forest protects a biodiverse area home to tule elk, black-tailed deer, river otters, black bears, and mountain lions. Rivers that drain these highlands are used by California coastal chinook salmon and Northern California steelhead. Fishing in the lakes is a popular activity and a chance to see ospreys and bald eagles.
Photographic Opportunity
On Deafy Glade Trail, there were congregations of lady bugs that numbered in the hundreds along the South Fork of Stony Creek.
Peak Season
Summer
Fees
None
Road Conditions
Fouts Springs Road (Forest Road M10) is a well-maintained gravel road that crosses the National Forest west of Stonyford. That area is popular with motorcycles and OHVs, so keep an eye out for them while driving.
Camping
Mendocino National Forest manages Bear Creek Campground and Lower Nye Dispersed Campground among many others, plus there are countless places for dispersed camping.
Wilderness Areas
Sanhedrin Wilderness
Snow Mountain Wilderness
Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness (also in Six Rivers and Trinity National Forests)
Yuki Wilderness (also run by the Bureau of Land Management)
Raven About The Parks 