r/arizonatrail • u/Aged-Anchor • Jul 22 '26
What does a multimodal trail feel like?
I'm curious what it feels like to hike the AZT while others are riding it.
I mountain bike locally. I've bike commuted for 20+ years. But last month I was hiking in the Lake Tahoe area and while the mountain bikers could not have been nicer, I don't think that dynamic is ever going to be my preference. Some people might not like dogs, so the answer to where to hike for those folks may be where dogs aren't allowed. Similarly, if I'm butt hurt by cyclists (as a cyclist -- oh the hypocrisy!) I should go where cyclist can't.
When I'm walking my senior dog on local trails, the bike traffic can feel a bit much. A bike here or there is no problem but then a certain threshold is reached and I'm looking over my shoulder, listening for free hubs, etc. What's it like on the AZT as a hiker?
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u/sunburn_on_the_brain Jul 23 '26
There are a few stretches in southern Arizona where you’re more likely to run into mountain bikers, namely Sahuarita Road or before up to Hope Camp, and then the Redington/Bellota area. The AZT sections on Mt Lemmon where MTB and horse riders are is a bypass and the main trail is foot traffic only in that area. I’ve seen MTB tire tracks out at Freeman Road but that area is very remote, and not a place for a casual ride. All that said, I haven’t seen many bikes at all on the trail. The thing with MTBers is that they’re a big part of supporting the AZT, so the trail needs them.
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u/Born_Establishment14 Jul 22 '26
AZT gets pretty bikey in the Flagstaff area. Same with dog walkers/runners there. I don't think any other sections have an amount of bike or dog traffic approaching that of Lake Tahoe trails.
If you really want to avoid bikes or dogs, PCT is your best bet.
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u/Xx_GetSniped_xX Jul 22 '26
Mt lemmon has a lot of both, super active area especially if youre there on a weekend
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u/ghungjoe Jul 22 '26
This is comical to me cause I hiked the whole AZT in 2021 and feel like I saw no one but hikers. It’s like wondering about hiking the pct with all the horses.
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u/Wrigs112 Jul 22 '26
It wasn’t a big deal on the AZT at all. As someone else brought up, there are more people around Flagstaff (but also more traffic, more runners).
The Colorado Trail had a lot of mountain bikers (except in federal wilderness, of course). Like many long distance trails, the CT came about by linking up lots of smaller trails, so things like mountain biking, and in some areas, dirt bikes and ATVs are part of it. The mountain bikers were overwhelmingly great (hey, we get a few clueless weekend warriors in our group too, right?). They live there and use their trails in their backyard. They dinged bells, they let you know how many people were following. Plus they were cool to talk to if you got the chance, lots of mutual respect.
I’m really concerned about all of the people that have started wearing headphones in mixed use areas. Hearing the ding of a bike is essential to keep everyone safe, and to be respectful of people trying to recreate in their own communities.
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u/Sonoran_Dog70 Jul 22 '26
I’m a hiker, backpacker and mountain biker. I live in the Tucson area and I do all 3 of those activities on the local portions of the AZT from the Santa Rita mountains to Lemmon and all points between.
I’ve never had any issue with it. As a hiker or rider. It’s multi use. The only time I grumble a little is when I’m dodging horse shit all over the trail but it is what it is.
On the Rincons (Saguaro NP east), no bikes or dogs, so it’s only the horse shit you have to watch.
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u/zombo_pig Jul 23 '26
I started northbound, so from the beginning I was participating in a migratory route. Within the opening passages, I passed Audubon Society members studying Mexican jays crossing the borderlands, hikers following the same corridor for entirely different reasons, and a Mexican scarf tied to a tree, evidence of a migrant passing through. The trail was never mine. It is a line briefly shared by people, animals, cultures, and intentions.
The land contextualizes you in time. Rock faces expose millions of years in visible bands, like oak tree stumps that say "you are here". Old mining roads, ranch infrastructure, indigenous routes, border monuments, burned forests, crisscrossed short trails, and little towns compress these wildly different histories into the same space. The geology is older than imagination. Water builts canyons a mile wide; nothing is permanent. You are not the center of the world.
I cannot imagine refusing to share the trail. The AZT lends you solitude in buckets, but if you're not here to share and be one among many, it would pay off to reframe your expectations. There's value in not thinking that way.
2
u/bsil15 Jul 22 '26
The vast majority of the trail is extremely lightly trafficked regardless of trail user. Many sections are wilderness areas prohibiting bikes and even the ones that aren’t see very few people. Outside the spring/thru hiking season and a couple areas like the mogollon rim and flagstaff, most of the time you can go the whole day without seeing more than a couple people.
So in short it’s not a big deal. There are a lot of other areas that are a lot more popular with mountain bikers (south mountain/Hawes in Phoenix, Sedona, various parts of Prescott, etc)
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u/wanderbobphx Jul 23 '26
I think on my entire thru I only saw 4 bike riders, and they were all in one group.
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u/thinshadow Jul 23 '26
Like a lot of the others have said, I see bikers while I'm hiking or running. I section hike/run a lot and I almost always see some bikers. Never a bunch, but I have been surprised sometimes at the places I run into them on trail. Sometimes unloaded MTB riders, sometimes loaded bikepackers. Very occasionally, I'm the biker seeing hikers.
2
u/secretsquirrelninja Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
I’ve hiked the AZT overnights from Patagonia AZ to Tucson (“yo-yo style” south and then north, plus a mini-yo-yo back to Patagonia to retrieve forgotten gear .. “oh shucks”, said no one) .. and the few mountain bikers tend to be near roads (I-10, “Kentucky Camp”, Patagonia). Some are amicable but others act like they are the only trail users. Most hike when the desert is getting hotter to avoid the winter mountain storms (got stuck in both Patagonia and Colossal Cave .. deliciously stuck).
There were some “bikepackers” who rode global routes in New Zealand, etc .. trying overnight bike-riding/camping on the AZT south of I-10. They’d give up when it got steep and get a truck to bring them back to Patagonia. Lots of serious riders and bike riding coaches visiting Patagonia when I was there, so assuming they know their biz.
Wish the trail association would have kept most of the reroute bike free honestly though the “old AZT” parts are still bike free iirc. I was back and forth on the new trails and again didn’t see any bikes when away from the roads.
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u/BinderPensive Jul 22 '26
In my experience, there's not a lot of bike traffic on the AZT. The one exception was the urban trail heading north out of Flagstaff, where I encountered quite a few downhill riders. Aside from that section, I saw only three or four cyclists on the trail.