Arizona Trail Backpacking: Passage 40, Kaibab Plateau South
AZT Day 7
Trans-Arizona/Utah Day 14

In the land of Arizona
Through desert heat or snow
Winds a trail for folks to follow
From Utah to Old Mexico

It’s the Arizona Trail
A pathway through the great Southwest
A diverse track through wood and stone
Your spirit it will test

Oh, sure you’ll sweat and blister
You’ll feel the miles every day
You’ll shiver at the loneliness
Your feet and seat will pay

But you’ll see moonlight on the borderlands
You’ll see stars on the Mogollon
You’ll feel the warmth of winter sun
And be thrilled straight through to bone

The aches and pains will fade away
You’ll feel renewed and whole
You’ll never be the same again
With Arizona in your soul

Along the Arizona Trail
A reverence and peace you’ll know
Through deserts, canyons, and mountains
From Utah to Old Mexico
-“The Arizona Trail,” Dale R. Shewalter

Another cold morning. There are icicles in my water and some food has frozen. I’m on the trail around 7:30, in the vicinity of the highest point on the entire Arizona Trail. Setting out and hiking southward, the trail winds through meadows and past more aspen groves mixed with spruce/fir forest before crossing the unmarked highpoint of both the Kaibab and trail just before reaching the Grand Canyon National Park boundary.

This entire stretch falls within the boreal forest, between 8200-9200 ft in elevation. Accumulating 26 inches of precipitation per year, including an average of 10-12 feet of snow, and dominated by aspen and conifers such as Engelmann spruce & Douglas fir, the boreal forest on the North Rim has cool temperatures even in high summer, is the subject of extreme storms, and is named for Boreas, the North Wind.

Logistics and ecological details follow today’s photos.

The AZT passes aspens and mixed conifers as it heads toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau, hiking southbound
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Fall backpacking on the AZT
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
The AZT passes aspens and mixed conifers as it heads toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau, hiking southbound
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
The AZT passes aspens and mixed conifers as it heads toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau, backpacking southbound
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspen groves and mixed conifers stand along the AZT as it heads toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau, hiking southbound
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
An aspen in fall foliage beside the AZT and mixed conifers backpacking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand with mixed conifers beside the AZT as it heads toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau, hiking southbound
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand beside the AZT, backpacking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand beside the AZT, hiking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand beside the AZT, backpacking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest

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Fall backpacking on the AZT
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand among mixed conifers beside the AZT, hiking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand among mixed conifers beside the AZT, backpacking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand among mixed conifers beside the AZT, hiking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand beside the AZT, backpacking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Fall hiking on the AZT
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Fall backpacking on the AZT
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand beside mixed conifers and the meadow-borne AZT, hiking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Aspens in full fall foliage stand beside mixed conifers and the meadow-borne AZT, backpacking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National
Aspens in full fall foliage stand beside mixed conifers and the meadow-borne AZT, hiking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National
Aspens in full fall foliage stand beside mixed conifers and the meadow-borne AZT, backpacking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National
Aspens in full fall foliage stand beside mixed conifers and the meadow-borne AZT, hiking southbound toward the high point of the Kaibab Plateau
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National
Golden and orange aspens stand among green confiers and golden ricegrass meadows along the Arizona Trail.
Fall backpacking on the AZT
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest
Fall hiking on the AZT
Arizona Trail, Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Kaibab National Forest

Passage Logistics & Ecology

Passage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
AZTA Passage OverviewPassage 40 (Kaibab Plateau South)
Trail SurfaceDirt trail
Length (Mi)24.3
SeasonSpring-fall. No vehicular access to this section December-mid May. Feet of snow in winter.
Potential Water SourcesCrane Lake (mi 46.5 SOBO, 742.2 NOBO)
Little Pleasant Valley Tank (mi 48.8 SOBO, 739.9 NOBO)
Wildlife Drinker (mi 56.5 SOBO, 732.2 NOBO)
Dog Lake (mi 56.6 SOBO, 732.1 NOBO)
North Canyon Spring (mi 58.9 SOBO, 729.8 NOBO)
Crystal Spring (mi 59.5 SOBO, 729.2 NOBO)
Sourdough Well (mi 62.1 SOBO, 726.6 NOBO)
Upper North Canyon Creek (mi 63.9 SOBO, 724.9 NOBO)
Water Source ReportsFarOut or AZT Water Reports
TrailheadsNorth: Telephone Hill
South: Grand Canyon National Park boundary
Trailhead AccessNorth: Vehicular access via FR 241 off AZ-67
South: Foot access only
WildernessNo, but it can feel like it. Most hikers in the area stick to the national park. Or are passing through to reach routes in the national park.
Possible resupply pointsNorth Rim Country Store & Meadow’s Edge
Accessed via FR 216 at AZT MM 54.6 S/734.1 N
ATA-Rated DifficultyEasy
Potential campsites (mileages S to N)Various
Ecosystems TraversedGreat Basin Subalpine Conifer Forest
Rocky Mountain Montane Conifer Woodland
Great Basin Subalpine Conifer Forest
Common Trees/Shrubs* Corkbark fir
* Gambel oak
* Quaking aspen
* White fir
* Blue spruce
* Engelmann spruce
* Buckwheats
* Currants
* Dwarf juniper
* Elderberry
* Fendler’s ceanothus
* Greenleaf Manzanita
* New Mexican locust
* Perry’s rabbitbrush
* Raspberry
* smooth sumac
* Snowberry
Common herbaceous plants* Bracken Fern
* Buckwheats
* Cinquefoils
* Columbines
* Fleabane daisies
* Geraniums
* goldeneye
* Goldenrods
* Groundsels
* Hairy golden aster
* Indian paintbrush
* Lotus
* Lupines
* Meadow-rue
* Parry’s bellflower
* Peavine
* Penstemons
* Puccoon
* Pussytoes
* Thistles
* Western & white prairie asters
* Wild strawberry
* Wormwood
* Yarrow
* Yellow hawkweed
Common succulentsPrickly pear, occasionally
Aquatic* Bulrush
* Buttercups
* Rushes
* Sedges
* Water plantains
Southern Passage 40 Ecology (source: Arizona Trail Association AZT Guide & NatureServe). Only California and Texas are more diverse ecologically than Arizona.

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