Explorer's Guide 50 Hikes in Arizona: Walks, Hikes, and Backpacks through Sky Islands and Deserts in the Grand Canyon State

An extensive guide to the best hiking Arizona has to offer.

Isn't Arizona just all desert and cactus? Not really. In fact, Arizona has more topographical and habitat variety than almost any other state in the U.S. With elevations that range from 70 feet near Yuma to 12,700 feet just outside Flagstaff, Arizona's great diversity in climate, geology, flora, and fauna will surprise non-Arizonans and residents alike. In a short day's drive, you can start out in the flat desert dryland and end up in arctic tundra among jagged peaks and you'll see much more that the state has to offer than just the Grand Canyon.

This myth-busting book showcases a select range of short and long trails. Included are hikes where you can find waterfalls, springs, snow, subalpine mountaintops, boreal forests, and watrous canyons. Take the Bright Angel and Rim Trails down the Grand Canyon; visit Native American ruins; hike to summits with jaw-dropping views. And you'll find the desert trails are hardly "barren"―they're alive with saguaro and organ pipe cactus. You can leave inner-city Phoenix and Tucson for hiking treasures you'll find nowhere else. 50 black-and-white photos, 50 maps

Martin Tessmer is a research professor of Instructional Technology at the University of Colorado at Denver, and a travel writer specializing in recreation and outdoor adventure. He has been a regular contributor to Backpacker magazine's "Weekend Wilderness" column and has continued travel articles to newspapers and magazines across the country. He is the author of Weekend Wilderness: California, Oregon, Washington and Explorer's Guide 50 Hikes in Arizona. He lives in Evergreen, Colorado.