Armed with trail-building tools such as pulaskis (axe/hoe combos), McLeods (rake/hoe combos), shovels, pick mattocks (blade/pick combos), limb loppers, and pruning saws—as well as a great deal of passion for building trails—scores of volunteers meet periodically to work together with the Black Canyon Trail Coalition. The Coalition is an Arizona non-profit organization that was organized to promote and facilitate the creation and use of the 62-mile Black Canyon Trail system, which runs from the Sonoran Desert outside Phoenix, Arizona, to the rural grasslands of Prescott Valley, Arizona.
The Coalition, comprised of equestrian, mountain bicycling, hiking, and off-highway vehicle organizations, works in cooperation with government agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the National Forest Service to accomplish its mission. Since its establishment in 1987, the Black Canyon Trail Coalition has sought to connect Black Canyon Corridor communities with a world-class, 62-mile-long hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trail.
Volunteers have labored long and hard to build the trail, which traverses canyons, cactus forests, and arroyos. The steepness of the terrain, the rocky soil, and the many rock outcrops, as well as long hikes to job sites, add to the challenge of building the trail. Recently, a resident of Black Canyon City participated with his horse, traveling eight miles on the trail in four round-trips to haul tools, water, and food to the volunteers during their eight-hour day.
The Coalition was a recipient of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s 2006 Take Pride in America National Award in the “Non-Profit Organization” category.
