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I was wondering what the best overall hike in AZ is.

I liked Keet Seel, but its basically a destination hike. Most of the time you're wading through quicksand in a deep arroyo. The destination is worth every hour on the trail though.
I haven't done really any in Paria proper, but I hear that's wicked.
Probably my favorite "easy" trail are the trails at Wupatki.

And then, as Joe stated, there's those hikes that are just so cool you've gotta stumble across them yourself.

Rob, if you had followed the TRAIL you could have skipped the quicksand, and just waded through miles of sand instead!! Keet Seel is interesting, but for me it's definitely a "Been there done that bought the T-shirt" hike. I probably won't go back. It's a destination, as Rob said, but not a particularly enjoyable walk.

Someone said Mt. Baldy. Well, I live in the mtns. about 40 min. from Baldy. I think it's over-rated, but I do hike it at least once a year. Why is it over-rated? Well, it's crowded, for one thing, unless you go in the off-season, and then it's cold, which is ok, but not always too pleasant. Those of us living in the White Mtns. are always amazed at the number of cars at the trailhead, and so we drive down the road to the next trail where there's nobody parked at all. I know some employees of the Forest Service call y'all from the Valley "lemmings" because you all seem to go to the same crowded places. They publish pamphlets with all the other hikes, but you still crowd that one place.

I like the Mainstem Black River and the Blue Primitive Area for solitude. The Grand Canyon, too, but NOT Bright Angel or Kaibab. Not that I hate those trails, just that they wouldn't make my top hike list. Bill Hall Trail to Tapeats Creek and Thunder River, for one example. In order to make my top list I think there would have to be a swimming hole, though. There is one on Black River, but I think only about 10 people know where it is, and I'm one of them, and I ain't telling. And I haven't yet done the Central AZ hikes, Wet Beaver, W. Clear Creek, etc., nor Aravaipa. I'm going to Aravaipa in Sept!!

So the upshot is that I can't decide. I haven't hiked very much of the AZT, but down around Tucson when they first started building parts of it in the Catalinas, specifically I'm thinking of the area around Prison Camp/Molino Basin, it was very poorly constructed, with few or no switchbacks, and lots of erosion started to occur soon after it was put in. A lot of us local hikers at the time were pretty shocked and dismayed when we saw that--this was at least 13 years ago. Of course, I like the IDEA of the AZT, but for me, the jury's still out as to whether it's actually a good trail, or just a gash through the brush. And then you'll hike part of it and then they'll re-route it--that has happened so many times in the Rincons and Catalinas. At least lately they are thinking of the thru-hikers needing supplies (hello!) and have re-routed through Summerhaven.

I can't have just one---

Buckskin Gulch
West Divide Galiuro
Ash Creek Galiuro--fall
South Fork Cave Creek--fall
Ash Creek Mt Graham

and some non published ones---especially underground!!!

The "best" hike is purely in the opinion of the hiker. Seems like every hike has its defining moments that make it either a winner or a loser. Seeing a huge bull elk snorting and rutting,encountering a bevy of skinny dipping co-eds or finding an arrowhead can make a hike seem like the best ever, when 2 weeks later on the same trail, you might find yourself in a freezing torrential rain that traps you for a couple extra days deep in a canyon. That being said, anymore i usually just go where others don't go. Lately i have found a solitary mountain, pristine, crawling with flora and fauna, ruins, petroglyphs and great views of the peaks and the red rocks and a starry sky at night that is unbelieveable. Paradise

cass1234 wrote:I was wondering what the best overall hike in AZ is.

OK, now that you've received some serious answers, I get to play with your question.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone hiking in AZ in overalls. Especially in the summer, those things are just too gosh darn hot.

The best AZ hike in overalls is the same as the best Iowa hike in overalls, from the cornfield after a hard days work to the farmhouse.

You ain't from round here boy are ya - this is cowboy country, only farmers wear overalls.

In response to azbackpackr's reply:
Trail? What's that?
It was a group of us in November, and the ranger leading the hike actually suggested staying in the streambottom as opposed to climbing out in order to make it "faster". My boots were so wet and full of sand by the time I got back to the big climb at the end, it felt like my feet weighed about five pounds each.

As for overall hikes, I know some of us condor folks hike in Carhartt overalls during the winter. ;)