Permits
Good news!
The Grand Enchantment Trail is mostly free of beauracratic red tape.
The only permit you'll need is for access to Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness,
a one or two day traverse for most hikers.
In order to protect
the canyon's unique and fragile ecosystem, the BLM limits visitation
to 50 people per day - 30 of whom may enter the wilderness from the
west end, and 20 via the east entrance. (Pets
and mechanized equipment are not allowed, but pack animals are.) Spring
and fall are popular seasons at Aravaipa, particularly on weekends,
and permits sometimes sell out, so it's advisable to reserve as far
ahead as practical.
Permits are available
up to 13 weeks in advance, and may be reserved online.
Alternatively, you can reserve by phone or in-person from the BLM
Safford Field Office: (928) 348-4400. If reserving by phone your permit
will be mailed to you upon payment, or you can request to pick it
up in person at the Safford Field Office or at either of two ranger
stations located near the trailheads: Brandenburg Ranger Station on
the west side, or Klondyke R.S. on the east. (Please note that the
ranger stations are only sporadically staffed.) Permits cost $5 per
person per day in the canyon; you're paying simply for access here,
regardless of whether you camp overnight.
 |
|
Aravaipa
Canyon Wilderness
|
Unfortunately
for G.E.T. thru-hikers, Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness permits are date-specific
and non-adjustable after purchase, so you'll need to give the matter
more thought than you might prefer. Here are some suggestions:
Eastbound
The west entrance
to Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness lies 124 miles from the G.E.T.'s terminus
near Phoenix, or 78 miles from the town of Superior. Based on these
mileages, eastbound hikers in planning can estimate how long it will
take to reach Aravaipa Canyon, then choose their permit date(s) accordingly.
Be sure to start your hike according to schedule, and consider giving
yourself a day or two of leeway to account for any daily mileage shortcomings.
Westbound
Westbound thru-hikers
will reach the east entrance of Aravaipa Canyon toward the end of
their journey, so would find it impractical to reserve date-specific
permits before the thru-hike. Instead, wait until you reach the town
of Clifton/Morenci (149 miles from Aravaipa's east entrance) or Safford
(89 miles), then contact the BLM or go online to obtain a permit.
On short notice you may or may not get the precise date(s) you'd prefer.
But a day or two of waiting around probably wouldn't be the end of
the world, either.
Eastbound or west,
most long-distance hikers will probably want to spend a night in the
Wilderness itself, even though the sinuous 10 mile length of the canyon
here is traversable in a (fairly long) day. This, of course, means
reserving a two-day permit. Otherwise, hikers could camp at Brandenburg
campsite (free, first-come first-served) outside the permit zone on
the west side, or in the canyon of Turkey Creek on the east side,
thus reserving only a one-day permit for the canyon - a potential
advantage when availability happens to be limited.
Please refer to
Segment 7 of the GET Guidebook for
more information about Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness and permit-related
logistics.
 |
| Pay
to Play: signboard along Aravaipa Rd tells the story. |
