The Arizona Trail Association (AZTA), led by Executive Director Matthew Nelson, is actively working to transform the Arizona Trail into an 800-mile continuous singletrack trail from Mexico to Utah. Currently, about 80 miles of the trail still run along dirt roads, which are increasingly congested with motorized UTV traffic, creating conflicts with the trail’s non-motorized National Scenic Trail designation for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Over the past decade, AZTA has completed roughly 40 miles of singletrack reroutes, including a recent 11-mile project in the Santa Rita Foothills that offers sustainable, flowy trail aligned with natural landforms, significantly improving the riding experience.

Looking ahead, Nelson’s vision extends beyond replacing dirt road segments; he aims to reroute the trail around eight designated Wilderness areas that currently force mountain bikers onto less desirable roads or pavement. This ambitious plan involves designing and constructing hundreds of miles of new singletrack trail to maintain the trail’s continuity and quality for non-motorized users while preserving wilderness protections. Though the project is daunting and may take decades, AZTA’s dedicated leadership and community involvement fuel optimism that the Arizona Trail will become a premier, uninterrupted mountain biking and hiking corridor.