AZ Utopia: Arizona Hiking Blog

May 6, 2016

Butcher Jones Hiking Trail

★★★★★ Moderate / Phoenix Area: Skirting Saguaro Lake, a stunningly beautiful desert gem, the Butcher Jones Hiking Trail crosses a sandy beach, intimate reed lined coves and high pinnacles with breathtaking views. The first half-mile is bustling with families and fishermen enjoying the lake. But after that the trail is completely hiker-centric.

April 23, 2016

Soldier Pass Hiking Trail

★★★★☆ Moderate / Sedona: Long views, a crazy-big sinkhole, sacred pools, and a cave-lined ridge are just a few of the cool features on Soldier Pass Hiking Trail. This Sedona hike mashes-up some of the area’s wackiest red-rock formations in one short trail.

April 14, 2016

Yavapai Point Hiking Trail

★★★★☆ Moderate / Phoenix Area: Soak in epic water views and lakefront breezes from the top of Lake Pleasant’s Yavapai Point Hiking Trail. It’s easy to forget that Phoenix is only a few miles away, as picture perfect views of sailboats wafting across the lake spread out below this scenic trail.

A hiker under a shaft of light, in Buckskin Gulch, in Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, Utah. Accessed from Wire Pass Hiking Trail. Easy Hikes. Grand Canyon Area

April 9, 2016

Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch Hiking Trails

★★★★★ Easy / Grand Canyon Area / Southern Utah: One of the longest, deepest, and most stunning, slot canyons in the world, can be accessed by hiking Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch. Both trails sit just north of the Arizona border in Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. Wire pass is a short, mostly easy trail, that sports its own small slot canyon. It leads…

A Close-up, Bright Yellow, Prickly Pear, Cacti Blossoms, Wildflowers, Arizona. Desert.

April 5, 2016

Best Arizona Hikes to see the Cacti Blossoms

April is the perfect month to get out and enjoy the desert’s brilliant display of colorful cacti blossoms. As the Cholla, Prickly Pear and Hedgehog cacti come into peak bloom, the desert landscape transforms, with pops of bright yellow, orange, red and fuchsia. Some of the best hikes we’ve found to get front-and-center to these technicolor displays include: In…

March 25, 2016

Horseshoe Bend Hiking Trail

★★★★☆ Easy / Grand Canyon Area: Enormous cliffs tower over the Colorado River, as it makes a hairpin turn around Horseshoe Bend. At less than a mile long, the blustery, sandy hike to Lookout Point is an easy one. And the mind-bogglingly spectacular views to be had from the 1000′ high, heart-palpitating rim, are beyond words beautiful!

March 19, 2016

Choosing the Perfect Hiking Shoe or Boot

Besides having enough water, your hiking footwear has the most radical impact on whether you reminisce about your hike in “Whoo Hoo!” or “*!%*!#*%!” terms. Having your feet feel impervious to the trail is pretty sweet. While getting bumped up toes, blisters or twisted ankles, due underperforming footwear, is less than cool! So what should you look for when choosing a hiking shoe or boot?…

March 17, 2016

Pipeline Canyon Hiking Trail

★★★★☆ Easy to Moderate / Phoenix Area: A floating bridge crosses crystal clear water, in one of Lake Pleasant’s intimate coves. The Pipeline Canyon Hiking Trail rambles along the sides of quiet lakefront hills to this hidden location. Far flung views set blue water against dry desert mountains. On a lucky day wild burros can be spotted. And ducks frolicking in water are commonplace.

Landscape, View, Kids, Hikers, Boulders, Pond, Jewel of the Creek Hiking Trail, Jewel of the Creek Preserve, Cave Creek, Arizona, Phoenix Area, Family Hikes

March 11, 2016

Jewel of the Creek & Dragonfly Hiking Trail Loop

★★★★☆ Easy / Phoenix Area: Dragonflies by a pond, wood-plank creek crossings and a kid-sized cave are some of the fun features to be found on the easy, Jewel of the Creek & Dragonfly Hiking Trail loop. Kids of every age will have a blast exploring this shady, tree lined loop – that circles the lush green banks of Cave Creek.

March 2, 2016

We have a Winner!

Thank you to everyone who participated in AZ Utopia’s one-year anniversary giveaway. We wish that we had prizes for everyone. But alas, anselrhead, is the winner of a Quest 2-liter hydration backpack as a result of their following us on Instagram! We really appreciate everyone who signed-up to receive AZ Utopia emails and/or followed us on Instagram. We look forward to keeping you…