Hiking Arizona

by Bruce Grubbs

A detailed guide to more than 100 of Arizona's best hikes, revised and updated.

Genres: Travel, Reference

319 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

About the author

The author has a serious problem- he doesn't know what he wants to do when he grows up. Meanwhile, he's done such things as wildland fire fighting, running a mountain shop, flying airplanes, shooting photos, and writing books. He's a backcountry skier, climber, figure skater, mountain biker, amateur radio operator, river runner, and sea kayaker- but the thing that really floats his boat is hiking and backpacking. No matter what else he tries, the author always come back to hiking- especially long, rough, cross-country trips in places like the Grand Canyon. Some people never learn. But what little he has learned, he's willing share with you- via his books, of course, but also via his websites, blogs, and whatever works.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bruce Grubbs does a very good job as a author/guide.

While Falcon is not my favorite publisher (to put it mildly) this is well written (thanks to Grubbs) and comprehensive with many excellent hikes from an afternoon stroll to a multi day backpack. It doesn’t appear to have suffered too much from the poor editing of other Falcon titles.

I’ll keep this book close on all my future trips to Arizona.

[Amanda Wampler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please do your diligence when researching hikes from the book. I was excited to find Ash Creek Falls (hike 90) and started looking into it more.
The book was published in 2019, however the hike description makes no mention of damage to the trail from the 2017 Frye Fire. The hike is rated easy in the book, but according to AllTrails reviews from 2023, the trail is hard, and non-existent in many places.
How did the author and publisher miss this? Perhaps the damage occurred several years after the fire? I’m not knowledgeable enough about forest fires to answer that. In any case, this was a good reminder to me to always use multiple sources for research and to try and find the most up to date information.

[Toviel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grubb's HIKING ARIZONA is a great book for someone who wants to hike in Colorado: it's possible to hike a over a third of the trails described in this guidebook and never see the actual desert. I was not surprised to learn Grubbs published another book on N. AZ hiking specifically, given the sheer attention given to the Kaibab, Coconino, and Grand Canyon areas of the state. Furthermore, the author's promise to focus on less popular trails only rings true in these chapters, because once the guidebook hits Phoenix and the rest of the state, almost all the noted trails are incredibly popular or well known.

I noticed several errors in the text, such as trails being misnamed (AFAIK, there is no "Dog Lake" in the Kaibab Nat'l Forest, for example). However, the trails themselves seem to be accurately described, and there is a wide variety of hikes ranging from beginner to expert difficulty. The attention given to hikes on reservations, and how to hike them while being respectful to their respective tribes, is another point in the book's favor. Trivia about Arizona forestry and specific hikes is also scattered throughout the book.

HIKING ARIZONA is the definition of "just okay." It's better than relying on phone apps like All Trails, but not by much. Although I have not read it, readers are probably better off buying Grubbs' book on hiking northern Arizona, because it's clear the author is incredibly passionate about the area.