Arizona Trail Race

The Arizona Trail Race (AZTR) is a brutally remote bikepacking challenge following the Arizona Trail from the Mexican border deep into the Grand Canyon State. With no entry fee, prizes, checkpoints or organised support, the event is built around a simple principle: riders are responsible for themselves from start to finish.

Two routes are available: the AZT300, finishing at Picketpost Trailhead near Superior, and the AZT800, which continues north from the Mexico border to the Utah state line. The 800 is the complete cross-state traversal of the Arizona Trail, a route that climbs through desert, mountain ranges, forests and the Grand Canyon before reaching the Vermilion Cliffs near Utah.

Much of the route is demanding singletrack, mixed with dirt roads and unavoidable wilderness bypasses where bikes are not permitted. Riders encounter everything from cactus-filled desert and exposed mountain ridges to high-elevation forests, technical trail and potentially snow in the northern sections. The AZT800 also requires riders to carry their bikes through the Grand Canyon, making it as much a hike-a-bike expedition as a mountain bike race.

The AZTR has deliberately retained its informal character. Organisers provide a route, a suggested start and results, but riders handle navigation, resupply, repairs and logistics themselves. There are no traditional race checkpoints or support stations — just hundreds of miles of rugged Arizona wilderness between the start and the finish.