The ground and who manages it
The Congressional Research Service splits Arizona’s 27,961,796 federal acres among five agencies: the BLM with 12,057,980, the Forest Service with 11,183,887, the National Park Service with 2,658,489, the Fish and Wildlife Service with 1,683,554 and the Department of Defense with 377,886. BLM Arizona rounds its own share to 12.1 million surface acres and runs it from four districts: the Arizona Strip, in St. George, Utah; the Colorado River District in Lake Havasu City, with the Kingman, Lake Havasu and Yuma field offices; the Gila District in Tucson, with the Tucson and Safford field offices; and the Phoenix District, with the Hassayampa and Lower Sonoran field offices.
Six national monuments sit on that BLM ground: Agua Fria, Grand Canyon-Parashant, Ironwood Forest, Sonoran Desert, Vermilion Cliffs, and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon. Three national conservation areas, Gila Box Riparian, Las Cienegas and San Pedro Riparian, and 47 wilderness areas complete the list. Wilderness matters to a driver more here than almost anywhere: Kofa National Wildlife Refuge is more than 80 percent designated wilderness and Cabeza Prieta is 93 percent, and neither allows a vehicle of any kind past the boundary.
The forests come in six pieces, and the Forest Service says their off-highway rules differ from one to the next. The Tonto is the largest at 2.9 million acres, running from 1,300 to 7,900 feet. The Coconino covers more than 1.8 million, the Prescott more than a million with 950 miles of trail. The Kaibab, Apache-Sitgreaves and Coronado make up the rest. Two kinds of land look public on a map and are not. Arizona State Trust Land is held for the schools, and the state says plainly that trust land is not public land. Tribal lands have their own rules, and need the tribe’s permit or permission.
- 01BLM public land: 12.1 million surface acres and 17.5 million subsurface acres, by the agency’s count
- 02Tonto National Forest: 2.9 million acres, 1,300 to 7,900 feet
- 03Coconino National Forest: more than 1.8 million acres
- 04Prescott National Forest: more than a million acres, with 950 miles of trail and 100,000 acres of wilderness
- 05Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument: 1,048,321 acres, of which 812,581 are BLM, 208,449 Park Service and 23,206 Arizona State Trust
- 06Kofa National Wildlife Refuge: 666,641 acres, with 547,719 of them wilderness
- 07Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge: 803,418 acres of designated wilderness, one of the largest in the contiguous United States
Source 1
Two seasons, running in opposite directions
Arizona has a summer state and a winter state, and they are not the same ground. The National Weather Service offices of the Southwest together define the monsoon as June 15 through September 30. The Park Service says that in Grand Canyon-Parashant storms usually build after 1 p.m. during it, so travel in the morning. NOAA describes the rain itself as falling from late June or early July to mid-September, and says the southernmost part of the state gets more than half its yearly total from it.
That rain is the hazard, not the heat, once you are off the pavement. The Weather Service says one to two feet of moving water will float most vehicles, including SUVs, that flash flooding reaches valleys many miles from the storm that caused it, and that some of the worst floods arrive in the middle of the night. Every agency here repeats a version of the same instruction: do not drive into a flooded road, do not drive around a barricade, do not camp in a wash. On the Tuweep road the Park Service goes further and prohibits driving muddy roads outright.
Winter closes the north. The Park Service says that from December through March, rain and snow make the roads above 4,000 feet on the Arizona Strip mostly impassable, including Mount Trumbull, Mount Logan, Mount Dellenbaugh and Twin Point, and that they may only be passable when frozen, usually at night or early morning. The Coconino warns that a dry desert road can turn into deep snow and four-wheel-drive conditions as you climb the same road, and names Schnebly Hill Road among the ones that catch people out. ADOT allows studded tires on Arizona highways from October 1 to May 1.
The other half of the calendar belongs to the desert. The Fish and Wildlife Service says the best time to visit Cabeza Prieta is late fall, early spring or winter. NOAA records the southern deserts running between 105°F and 115°F in summer, a state record high of 128°F at Lake Havasu City and a record low of minus 40°F at Hawley Lake. It also calls Phoenix the hottest climate of all major American cities. The BLM’s Long Term Visitor Area season, September 15 to April 15, is as clear a statement of the low desert’s travel window as any agency makes.
Source 47
What Arizona asks of a vehicle
Tires first, and the Park Service is the most specific agency in the state about them. On the Arizona Strip it says a high-clearance 4x4 with tires made for off-pavement use is the most important safety item you can have, that most rescues there involve vehicles with multiple flats where rock ripped up street-rated tires, and that the right tire for a full-size vehicle is a good E-range all-terrain with three-ply sidewalls, load range E being the equivalent of a ten-ply tire. It also says plainly that cars, minivans, crossover SUVs and RVs are not the right vehicles for that country.
Carry two spares, not one. The BLM says to bring plenty of water, food, extra gasoline and at least two spare tires to Parashant. The Fish and Wildlife Service recommends two spare tires and spare mechanical parts for Cabeza Prieta. Water is written into the rules the same way: two gallons per person per day for Cabeza Prieta with a two-day reserve, one gallon per person per day on the Organ Pipe drives. There is no drinking water on Kofa, none on Cabeza Prieta and none at Tuweep.
Four-wheel drive is a requirement on some roads and beside the point on others. Cabeza Prieta requires four-wheel drive with high clearance on El Camino del Diablo and Christmas Pass roads, and allows two-wheel drive with high clearance on Charlie Bell Road. Organ Pipe turns the Puerto Blanco loop into a one-way high-clearance four-wheel-drive road past Pinkley Peak. The Coconino, by contrast, says the rough and rocky parts of the Around the Peaks loop need high clearance but not four-wheel drive. Read the managing agency’s own words for the road you want rather than the map.
Size closes doors. Tuweep allows a maximum total length of 22 feet end to end and no more than four vehicles and eleven people in a party. Organ Pipe prohibits vehicles over 25 feet on Ajo Mountain Drive. Cabeza Prieta does not allow trailers at all except stock animal trailers to Tule Well under a special use permit, and turns away groups of more than four vehicles. Cell coverage is absent over most of Kofa and does not exist at Tuweep or in Parashant, so carry a way to call out that does not use a cell tower.
Source 31
Passes and routes
-
El Camino del Diablo
72 miles from Darby Well Road to Tule Well
Ajo, by Organ Pipe Cactus and Bates Well, across Cabeza Prieta to Christmas Pass Road and I-8
A free permit is required for every visitor 18 or older, obtained online through the Barry M. Goldwater Range system, because both approaches cross the range. The refuge road guide logs the arrival at the Cabeza Prieta kiosk at mile 26, Papago Well at 41, the dry lakebed of Las Playas at 49 where ruts are always present and the ground is a problem when wet, and Tule Well at 72. There is no fuel, no drinking water and no cell reception; the refuge asks for two gallons of water per person per day and two spare tires. Speed is limited to 25 mph, and vehicles must stay within 50 feet of the center line. 38
- Vehicle
- Four-wheel drive with high clearance, required. No trailers. No more than four vehicles in a group
- Season
- The refuge says late fall, early spring or winter, when desert temperatures are cooler
-
The road to Toroweap, Tuweep
61 miles by the Sunshine Route from Arizona 389
Fredonia or Colorado City to Toroweap Overlook, on the Grand Canyon’s north side
A day or backcountry permit, a park pass, photo ID and a highway license plate are all required in advance and none can be issued on site. Allow three hours or more one way. The Sunshine Route runs 61 miles of sharp rock, washboard and dust from Arizona 389, and the Park Service asks drivers not to stop on tribal land along the way. Driving muddy roads is prohibited, the speed limit is 30 mph and the agency tells you to air down to avoid flats. Toroweap Overlook stands 3,000 feet above the Colorado River. The campground has nine sites and a group site, a seven-night limit, no water, and no fires or charcoal. 29
- Vehicle
- High clearance. Maximum total length 22 feet end to end, four vehicles and eleven people
- Season
- Year-round in theory. The Main Street route is impassable in winter and the Clayhole route when wet
-
Mount Trumbull Scenic Loop Drive
About 150 miles of unpaved road
St. George, Utah, around Mount Trumbull, to Arizona 389 at Colorado City or the Kaibab Reservation
The Park Service is blunt about what this loop needs: no fuel or services exist after you leave St. George until Arizona 389. The BLM, which co-manages the monument, tells visitors to bring plenty of water, food, extra gasoline and at least two spare tires, and recommends high-clearance vehicles. There is no first aid station and no developed infrastructure inside the monument, the nearest hospital is in St. George, and the agency says you must be able to self-rescue. General visitor activities need no permit or fee. There are no designated campsites, so camping is dispersed, away from washes, and the Park Service asks you to move every two or three days. 33
- Vehicle
- High clearance with all-terrain tires and a full tank of fuel
- Season
- Rain and snow make roads above 4,000 feet mostly impassable from December through March
-
Kofa National Wildlife Refuge roads
State Highway 95 between Yuma and Quartzsite, at the King Valley, Palm Canyon, Crystal Hill and Castle Dome entrances
A 666,641-acre refuge, more than 80 percent of it designated wilderness, 40 miles north of Yuma. The Fish and Wildlife Service says most roads are not maintained, that brush and rock damage vehicles and sand traps them, and that there is nothing on the refuge for towing, fuel, sanitation or drinking water, with no cell coverage over most of it. Travel is limited to numbered designated roads, off-road driving is prohibited, the speed limit is 25 mph and you may park no more than 100 feet from a road. Camping is free and dispersed within that 100 feet, up to 14 days in any 12-month period. There is no charge to visit. 35
- Vehicle
- Many roads passable only by four-wheel drive; some by two-wheel drive with high clearance
- Season
- Open daily, year-round. Winter temperatures are mild and summer ones extreme
-
Puerto Blanco Drive, Organ Pipe Cactus
41 miles
A loop from the Kris Eggle Visitor Center on State Route 85, south of Why
Four to five hours for the loop. Once past Pinkley Peak you cannot turn around: the road is one way and you finish it. Ajo Mountain Drive, the other main drive here, is 21 miles of gravel and asphalt closed to vehicles over 25 feet because of the twists and dips. Bates Well Road runs 23 miles from Highway 85 south of Ajo to the Cabeza Prieta boundary and is the usual eastern approach to El Camino del Diablo; the Park Service strongly recommends high clearance for it. No water is available anywhere along these drives, and the recommendation is a gallon per person per day. 34
- Vehicle
- Any vehicle as far as Pinkley Peak, then one-way high clearance and four-wheel drive
- Season
- Year-round
-
Apache Trail, State Route 88
5 miles of it unpaved, between Fish Creek Vista and milepost 227
Apache Junction east toward Roosevelt Lake and State Route 188
Built in 1904 to carry construction traffic to Roosevelt Dam, which was finished in 1911. The Woodbury Fire and the flooding that followed it in 2019 destroyed the five-mile unpaved section between Fish Creek Vista at milepost 222 and milepost 227; ADOT reopened it in September 2024 after a $4 million interim project that cleared boulders off Fish Creek Hill, mitigated rockfall, repaired retaining walls and replaced culverts. ADOT’s own words for the 1.5-mile Fish Creek Vista section are that drivers should be confident in their vehicles and comfortable with a steep, winding, narrow stretch of unpaved road, and that conditions can change with weather or rockfall. 45
- Vehicle
- No vehicle restrictions are in place at Fish Creek Vista, but the road is steep, winding and narrow there
- Season
- ADOT asks drivers to check the weather forecast before travelling
-
From the Desert to the Tall Pines Scenic Byway
7,600 ft 74 miles of State Route 288
The Pleasant Valley Ranger District of the Tonto National Forest
The Tonto National Forest designated 74 miles of State Route 288 a scenic byway for the various biotic communities it passes through, which is where the name comes from. The forest gives 7,600 feet as the elevation of the route, says it is open around the clock, and points drivers at ADOT for closures. That is the right habit on any Arizona byway carrying a state route number: the road belongs to the state, the land beside it to the forest, and the two publish different things about it. 18
- Vehicle
- Not all sections are paved
- Season
- Year round, though the Forest Service says several areas receive heavy snowfall in winter
-
Swift Trail Parkway, State Route 366
35 miles
The Gila Valley near Safford, up the Pinaleño Mountains toward Mount Graham
The Coronado National Forest calls this the ecological equivalent of driving from Mexico to Canada in an afternoon. It climbs more than 7,000 feet in 35 miles, from Sonoran desert at 2,900 feet in the Gila Valley to 9,000-foot ridges in the Pinaleños, the highest and one of the most extensive of the southeastern sky islands, capped by Mount Graham at 10,720 feet. Allow about five hours for the round trip and more for side roads. The road was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression and reaches campgrounds and dispersed camping areas at 6,850 and 7,400 feet along the way. 19
- Vehicle
- Any car on the first 22 paved miles. High clearance for the last 13, which are dirt
- Season
- The Coronado publishes no seasonal dates for it, so none is given here
-
Catalina HighwayPaved
9,000 ft 27 miles
Tanque Verde Road in Tucson to the upper Santa Catalina Mountains
The only paved road into the upper Santa Catalinas, and the Forest Service’s own description is that it covers the biological range from the deserts of Mexico to the forests of Canada in 27 miles. Work started in 1933 and finished in 1950. The forest gives 9,000 feet as the elevation at the top and lists turnouts, campgrounds and picnic areas along the way. Its original name was the General Hitchcock Highway; almost everyone calls it the Mount Lemmon Highway. In a state where most of the good driving needs a permit or a transfer case, this is the one that needs neither. 21
- Vehicle
- Any car
- Season
- Year-round
-
Red Rocks and Sycamore Canyon Loop
About 23 miles, not counting spurs
A loop off US 89A at Sedona, by Dry Creek Road, Boynton Canyon Road and Forest Road 525
The Coconino National Forest routes this loop along the foot of the Sedona cliffs with four scenic spurs off it: Sterling Canyon for Devil’s Bridge and Vultee Arch, Boynton Canyon, Loy Butte and Sycamore Canyon to Sycamore Pass. Forest Road 152C is paved for about half a mile past the Doe and Bear Mountain trailheads and the Red Rock Loop Road is paved except for the last mile; the rest is unpaved and turns muddy and slippery when wet. Allow a full day for the whole thing, or split it into segments. 24
- Vehicle
- Passenger cars on most of it. The Vultee Arch spur is extremely rough and wants high clearance
- Season
- All year, though unpaved sections may become muddy after storms
-
Schnebly Hill Road, Forest Road 153
Sedona, by the Huckaby trailhead and the Merry Go Round, up to I-17
The Coconino National Forest tracks this road in two halves, the lower one from the Huckaby trailhead to the Merry Go Round and the upper one from there to I-17, and lists their status separately, which is a fair hint that they behave differently. Its road safety guidance names Schnebly Hill Road first among the roads where people get stuck and need rescue in winter, because a dry desert road at the bottom can be deep snow and four-wheel-drive conditions at the top of the same climb. Nothing else about the road is published on the pages read for this guide, so nothing else is stated here. Check the forest’s road status page before you commit to it. 27
- Vehicle
- The Forest Service publishes no vehicle class for it, so none is given here
- Season
- The Coconino names it among the roads where winter conditions change drastically with elevation
-
Mogollon Rim Road, Forest Road 300
State Route 87 near Clints Well, east along the lip of the Mogollon Rim
The Coconino National Forest calls Forest Road 300 the Rim Road, and also the General Crook Trail. Reach it by driving 50 miles south from Flagstaff on Lake Mary Road to Clints Well, then nine miles southwest on State Route 87. Kehl Springs Campground sits six miles east at 7,441 feet, in ponderosa pine right at the brink, where the Colorado Plateau ends in a drop of two thousand feet to the Sonoran country below and the lights of Payson show 15 miles away. It has a 14-day stay limit, no trash service, a small fee in the peak months, and a season of early May to late October. 28
- Vehicle
- The Forest Service publishes no vehicle class or length for the road, so neither is given here
- Season
- Kehl Springs Campground, six miles in, is open early May to late October
Rules worth knowing
- Which BLM field office holds the ground
- BLM Arizona rounds its holding to 12.1 million acres and the Congressional Research Service counts 12,057,980; both are stated here. The districts break into field offices, with Hassayampa and Lower Sonoran under Phoenix and the Arizona Strip office covering the country north of the canyon. Fees, permits and passes are published per office, so the office is where a specific answer lives. 6
- The national conservation lands are their own category
- Arizona’s BLM national conservation lands include the Agua Fria, Grand Canyon-Parashant, Ironwood Forest, Sonoran Desert and Vermilion Cliffs national monuments along with conservation areas and wilderness. Each has its own plan, and general BLM dispersed camping rules do not carry into them unchanged. One advisory worth knowing: from 1 November 2025 the camping limit at Mittry Lake changed from 10 days a calendar year to a different footing, so check the monument or area page rather than the state page. 7
- The long term visitor areas are a winter institution
- The Imperial Dam Long Term Visitor Area covers approximately 3,500 acres north of Yuma, and the La Posa areas sit south of Quartzsite off Highway 95. They run on a permit with published fees and dates, and they are how a large part of the country spends the winter in the desert. Treat them as a system with its own rules rather than as ordinary dispersed camping. 11
- In the Sonoran Desert monument, carry a gallon per person per day
- The monument states that water is not available anywhere along the drive and recommends a gallon per person per day. Dispersed camping and picnicking are allowed throughout unless otherwise posted, which makes it one of the more generous monuments in the state, and the water sentence is the reason that generosity needs planning. 12
- At Parashant, bring two spare tires
- Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument advises bringing plenty of water, food, extra petrol and at least two spare tires, and recommends high-clearance vehicles. It is the most remote piece of ground in this guide that a vehicle can reach, with no paved road, no services and no reliable communication. 13
- There are no designated campsites at Parashant
- The Park Service states that there are no designated campsites in Parashant National Monument. Backcountry camping is therefore dispersed by default across a place with no water and no help, which is the clearest illustration in Arizona of why self-sufficiency is the whole skill. 32
- The Tonto is 2.9 million acres at the edge of a city
- The Tonto National Forest spans 2.9 million acres of rugged country immediately east and north of Phoenix, which makes it the busiest forest in the state. State Route 88, the Apache Trail, was built in 1904 to provide construction access for Roosevelt Dam, and parts of it have been closed by damage in recent years, so the forest’s alerts page is the thing to read before planning around it. 15
- The Coconino is 1.8 million acres, and 14 days in 60
- With more than 1.8 million acres the Coconino covers the country around Flagstaff and Sedona. Its camping limit is 14 days within a 60-day period under 36 CFR 261.58, which is a longer window than the usual 30-day version and easy to misread. High-elevation campgrounds on the forest run early May to late October. 16
- The Prescott guards 950 miles of trail
- The Prescott National Forest describes itself as guardian of 950 miles of scenic trail and more than 100,000 acres of wilderness in the central highlands. It is the transition forest between the Sonoran desert and the Colorado Plateau, and its roads open earlier and close later than the Coconino’s. 17
- The Swift Trail climbs from desert to alpine in one road
- State Highway 366, the Swift Trail Parkway, takes you from cactus-studded Sonoran desert at 2,900 feet in the Gila Valley to alpine meadow and forest on Mount Graham. The Coronado National Forest publishes its own summit elevation and our 3DEP query gives 10,703 feet; the forest’s figure is the one used. It is the single most extreme elevation change on a paved road in this guide. 20
- The Coronado’s camping order runs to 2028
- Forest Order 03-05-00-24-005 sets a 14-day camping closure on the Coronado, in effect from 22 June 2026 through 22 June 2028. Orders like this replace the general rule for their term, and they are published as alerts rather than shown on the forest map. 22
- On the Apache-Sitgreaves it is 14 consecutive days in 30
- Forest Order 03-01-26-002 prohibits camping for more than 14 consecutive days within any 30-day period on all National Forest System land within the Apache-Sitgreaves, in effect from 22 June 2026 to 22 June 2028. Note the difference from the Coconino next door, which runs 14 days in 60. Two adjoining forests, two different clocks. 23
- The Around the Peaks loop closes for much of the year
- The drive circles Arizona’s highest mountain, and the forest notes that the roads are closed through much of the year. The Vultee Arch spur, Forest Road 152, is extremely rough and a high-clearance vehicle is highly recommended. Snow, not permission, is what shuts this one. 25
- Oak Creek Canyon is 15 miles of state highway
- The Oak Creek Canyon Scenic Drive is a 15-mile stretch of State Route 89A between Sedona and Flagstaff. It is paved, busy and worth doing early in the day, and it is the connection between the two halves of the Coconino that most visitors use. 26
- Kofa is over 80 percent designated wilderness
- Congress designated 547,719 acres, over 80 percent of Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, as wilderness through the 1990 Arizona Desert Wilderness Act, with no vehicular travel permitted in it. The refuge was established in 1939 for the protection of desert bighorn sheep. A January 2025 leaflet gives 547,700 acres; the About Us figure is the one used. 36
- Kofa is 40 miles north of Yuma
- The refuge sits 40 miles north of Yuma on the east side of State Highway 95, which makes it the most reachable big wilderness in southwest Arizona. The roads that serve it are the roads outside the wilderness boundary, and they are where the driving is. 37
- Cabeza Prieta needs a free permit, and no trailers
- Visitors must obtain a permit before visiting Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge; permits are free and available online. Trailers are not allowed except stock animal trailers to Tule Well under a special use permit. When camping or parked along the public roads, vehicles must be parked within 50 feet of the centre line. The refuge holds 803,418 acres of designated wilderness. 39
- On the Camino del Diablo, two gallons a person a day
- The refuge’s public use information limits camping to 14 days in any 28, requires vehicles to stay within 50 feet of the road centre line, and recommends a minimum of two gallons of water per person per day with a two-day reserve. All public use roads are primitive, unpaved and minimally maintained, and non-OHVs must be high clearance and four-wheel drive to use El Camino del Diablo and Christmas Pass roads. 40
- The road guide says it in one sentence
- The refuge’s own Charlie Bell Pass and El Camino del Diablo guide puts the requirement plainly: you need a high-clearance, four-wheel drive vehicle to traverse El Camino del Diablo. It also carries a mile log, which is the only navigation aid on that road worth trusting. 41
- The OHV decal reaches street-legal vehicles under 2,500 pounds
- All off-highway vehicles designed by the manufacturer primarily for use over unimproved terrain and weighing 2,500 pounds or less must display a valid Arizona OHV decal to operate on public and state trust land, and the state says that includes street-legal vehicles meeting those two tests. Decals are valid a year from purchase, and a non-resident decal costs 25 dollars plus a processing fee. A full-size plated truck is over the weight and outside the decal requirement. 42
- Studded tires are legal from October to May
- The Department of Transportation permits studded tires on Arizona highways from 1 October to 1 May, and asks drivers to fill the fuel tank and keep it at three-quarters, because running out of petrol in a remote place is extremely dangerous in winter conditions. It publishes no statewide passenger-vehicle traction law of the Colorado kind, so this guide states none. 46
- The monsoon brings over half the year’s rain
- The Weather Service says the monsoon typically arrives in mid to late June over northwest Mexico and early July over the southwest United States, and that most of these areas receive over half their annual precipitation from it. The defined season runs 15 June to 30 September. On dirt in Arizona that is the season that decides whether a wash is a road or a river. 48
- Navajo tribal parks require a backcountry permit
- To hike or camp in a Navajo Tribal Park you must purchase a backcountry permit, and the nation states that Navajo tour guides are to be used. Drones are prohibited at all Navajo Tribal Park locations. This is sovereign land with its own permitting, and it is a large part of northeastern Arizona. 49
- Fourteen days is the rule, and every agency counts it differently
- On BLM land dispersed camping is generally limited to 14 days in any 28-day period, after which you move to a new place, often at least 25 to 30 miles away. The Apache-Sitgreaves prohibits camping more than 14 consecutive days in any 30, under a forest order running to June 2028. The Coronado allows 14 days in a 60-day period. Kofa National Wildlife Refuge allows 14 days in any 12 months. Cabeza Prieta allows 14 days in any 28. Tuweep sets a seven-night limit. Check the office for the ground you are on, because the number you remember is probably the wrong one. 9
- The OHV decal is for OHVs, and a full-size 4x4 is not one
- Arizona requires a valid OHV decal on any off-highway vehicle that the manufacturer designed primarily for use over unimproved terrain and that weighs 2,500 pounds or less, to operate on public and state trust lands, including street-legal vehicles that meet both tests. Arizona State Parks states the other half of it just as plainly: the decal is not required for dual-sport motorcycles or 4x4 vehicles. A decal costs $25 plus a processing fee for residents and non-residents alike and is valid one year. Since January 1, 2025 at least one owner per vehicle must also finish a free safety course before registering or renewing. 43
- State trust land is not public land, and tribal land is not either
- The state says it in those words. Arizona’s trust land is managed by the State Land Department for the schools, and an OHV decal buys you only the right to cross it on existing roads, trails and designated routes. A State Land recreation permit is required to park and stage a tow vehicle, camp, hike or carry out any other recreational activity on trust land; the permits are printed at home and last a year from purchase. A valid hunting or fishing license covers those two activities and nothing else. Tribal lands have their own rules, and to be on them you need the tribe’s permit or permission. 44
- One permit opens the southwest corner
- A Barry M. Goldwater Range permit is what gets you into the Goldwater Range east and west public areas, Area A of the Sonoran Desert National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, which together hold most of the drivable Sonoran desert in the southwest of the state. It is free. You create an account online, watch the required safety video, agree to the stipulations and print the permit yourself; the BLM public rooms in Phoenix stopped issuing them over the counter. Every visitor 18 or older needs one, and Cabeza Prieta asks you to keep a copy with you at all times. 8
- Fire restrictions come in a year-round order plus seasonal ones
- A single year-round order, AZ910-2022-001, runs on all BLM-managed land in Arizona from May 2022 to May 2027 and bans fireworks, sky lanterns, exploding targets, and tracer, incendiary and steel-core ammunition everywhere, all the time. On top of that, each BLM district or field office may issue and rescind its own seasonal restrictions through a separate fire prevention order, and the forests do the same. The BLM points visitors at the Arizona interagency fire restrictions page to see which are in force across agencies. Check it for the district and the forest you are entering, not for the state. 14
- The winter that comes with a permit
- Arizona holds the two largest of the BLM’s Long Term Visitor Areas, created in 1983 for winter visitors: La Posa, about 11,400 acres two miles south of Quartzsite on US 95, and Imperial Dam, about 3,500 acres north of Yuma. From September 15 to April 15 you need an LTVA permit to be in one. The long-term permit costs $180 and covers the whole seven months or any part of it; the short-visit permit costs $40 for any 14 consecutive days and can be renewed as often as you like. One permit is good at every BLM LTVA. Outside that window the fee drops to $10 a day, $15 overnight or $75 a year per vehicle, and the ordinary 14-day limit in a 28-day period returns. 10
- Water on a road is the thing that kills people
- The National Weather Service says one to two feet of water will float most vehicles, including SUVs, that the depth is easy to misjudge, and that the road underneath may already be gone. Never drive into a flooded road and never drive around a barricade. Flooding reaches washes many miles from the storm that caused it, so a clear sky overhead means nothing if a thunderstorm is sitting on a mountain range upstream. Do not camp beside a stream or in a wash during the monsoon, because some of the worst flash floods arrive in the middle of the night. 47
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
US Forest Service (USFS)
National Park Service (NPS)
US Fish and Wildlife (USFW)
Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)
Department Of Defense (DOD)
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Other Federal
State
Local
Alaska Native Lands (Patented or Interim Conveyed)
Alaska Native Allotment
Road
Primitive Road
Road
Primitive Road
Trail
Roads open to all Vehicles, Yearlong
Roads open to all Vehicles, Seasonal
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Yearlong
Roads open to highway legal vehicles only, Seasonal
Special Designation, Yearlong
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails open to all vehicles, Yearlong
Trails open to all vehicles, Seasonal
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Yearlong
Trails open to vehicles 50" or less in width, Seasonal
Trails open to motorcycles, Yearlong
Trails open to motorcycles, Seasonal
Special Designation, Seasonal
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" in Width, Yearlong
Trails Open to Wheeled Vehicles Only < 50" or Less in Width, Seasonal
Wilderness Area
Wilderness Study Area
