The Arizona Trail for Google Earth

The Arizona Trail last updated July 2009
Google Earth virtual tour

The Arizona Trail is an ~800 mile, non-motorized backcountry route across Arizona from the Mexican border north to the Utah state line. Currently about 95% complete, this diverse thru-trail "links deserts, mountains, canyons, communities and people."¹¹source: ATA

The Google Earth virtual tour of the Arizona Trail lets you experience the trail corridor interactively, as you pan, tilt, and zoom your way from Mexico to Utah on a simulated 3D fly-over. All you'll need to begin your journey is Google Earth on your desktop and the following .kml file. This data file illustrates the entire 800 mile route of the Arizona Trail, color coded alternately red and blue to highlight each of the route's 43 passages. Overlayed on Google Earth's seamless, high-detail satellite imagery, it offers an astonishingly realistic and informative look at the terrain through which the trail passes.

To download, click on the following link and select 'open' to open it immediately in Google Earth, or 'save' to save it to your computer for future use.

arizona-trail.kml (580k)

To view the saved route in Google Earth, simply browse to the .kml file location on your computer and double-click to open it. (Or select File>Open from the menu bar in Google Earth.) The route should then appear on the globe within the viewer, and the file name will be listed in the Temporary Places menu at left.

Once the file is open in the Places menu you can drill down to see its placemarks - in essence a list of the route's 43 passages, or segments, from Mexico to Utah. Click on a passage to see it highlighted on the map, or double-click it to automatically zoom in to a particular passage. To make your tour more informative, you may also want to add various layers using the program's Layers window. For example: Terrain, Roads, Borders, and Geographic Features. The Google Earth Community layers may also be useful here and there along the route.

The Arizona Trail remains a work in progress, with several incomplete passages that continue to evolve as access and funding allow. The route portrayed in the AZT .kml file is therefore unofficial and subject to change, and includes some interim routes that hikers commonly use, highlighting one possible thru route from Mexico to Utah. The file will be updated from time to time in order to reflect ongoing progress toward a completed trail. This file should be considered for entertainment purposes only, and is not intended for navigational purposes. Refer to the website of the Arizona Trail Association for more information prior to embarking on a hike of the Arizona Trail.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ARIZONA TRAIL and help realize the dream for a continuous
800-mile non-motorized recreation trail across the Grand Canyon state.

Screen shots from the software:


Overview	Huachuca Mtns & Mexican border	Santa Catalinas Mtns & Tucson


Roosevelt Lake & Four Peaks	Flagstaff & San Francisco Peaks	Grand Canyon from South Rim