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Does anyone have any experience traveling through and hiking in the Aquarius Mountains? It is all checkerboarded state trust land and private. I am interested in exploring the area just east of Austin Peak. There's lots of pictures of it on this real estate listing https://www.realtor.com/realestateandho ... 7793-22159.

The AZ State Trust Land website says "The Permittee(s) acknowledge that recreation on State Trust land must only be conducted on lands that are open for recreation. Lands leased for agriculture, mining, commercial, or military purposes are not open to recreational use. Other State Trust lands may be closed to some or all recreational uses in coordination with other land management agencies. Permittee(s) is responsible for being aware of and complying with State Trust land closures. For more information on State Trust land closures, please click here (http://gis.azland.gov/webapps/parcel/) or call 602-542-4631."

With that in mind, most AZSTL (including the area I'm interested in) is leased for grazing which from looking at the parcel map seems to be a different category than agricultural leases. I would re-new my state trust land permit before going out there. The idea would be to bike around staying on the road when crossing through private land and only leaving the road to hike around on State Trust Land. From what I can tell from looking at Gaia and Mohave County parcel maps, there doesn't seem to be many people or buildings that far from the 93 or the 40. It looks like a wonderful area to explore and I would love to hear other peoples experiences or advice about this idea and exploring checkerboarded state trust land and private in general.

@JakeG
I hiked to the range highpoint a year or so ago. I remember parking next to a corral, walking on a road for a bit, and then going off-trail to the summit. I did not see any "no trespassing" signs so I did not worry about it. I believe that the summit is on BLM land, and I think my route took me through a large swath of BLM land, although I am not 100% certain.

I would recommend staying off O RO ranch property, which is a few miles east of the Aquarius Mountains. They seem aggressive about keeping people out.

@DixieFlyer
Thanks for the heads up about O RO ranch. I'll look into that. That's the kind of thing that I would like to avoid or it could be the type of thing that deters me from a hike like this.

Several of the large ranches up there permit access to their leased grazing land through an agreement with arizona game and fish. Check the AZGFD website for the relevant hunting unit and read up on the access for hunters. Fwiw, it’s a beautiful area with a lot of cool geology.

PhoenixStride wrote:I've done some exploring in checkerboard state trust land elsewhere

Tell us about your favorite such spot. H a z readers love to learn from each other.

@PhoenixStride
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