In 1776, two Spanish priests, Dominguez and Escalante, camped with Paiute Native Americans at the base of the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona.
Except for the fires, floods, and landslides that have occurred over the centuries, they are as they were when pioneers, cattle ranchers, and Mormon Honeymooners first ventured into Arizona: teeming with wildlife, exotic plants, and breathtaking rock formations that expose the history of the earth.
His idea to create a long distance trail open to a variety of users began in Utah during the 1970s, and in 1985 he organized an inter-agency team including the Forest Service, Utah Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service to create the Bonneville Rim Trail to connect the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks.
Their journey began June 1, near Priest Lake State Park, Idaho, and ended October 15, 1988 at the Mexican border a few miles east of Douglas, Arizona.
It was conceived as a 4,500-mile long network of preexisting trails that would traverse central Arizona, Utah, and Wyoming, and end at the Idaho-Montana border with Canada.
Here, at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet with high temperatures throughout the year, piñon trees, Apache fir, aspen, and bristlecone pine abound.
Near Tucson, 30 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, the proposed trail would transect the Butterfield Road, an old stagecoach and wagon route between Yuma, Arizona, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, earlier used by the Mormon Battalion.
After crossing the Navajo Bridge over Marble Canyon, and skirting the Vermilion Cliffs, the GWT starts anew at House Rock Valley Buffalo Ranch with a difficult ascent into the mountains along a trail at the base of the Kaibab Plateau.
Maps are available at Ranger Stations in the Tonto, Kaibab, and Prescott National Forests, as well as in the guidebook Driving the Great Western Trail in Arizona.