Robert Stieve

If you like this hike, you’ll have to write home about it instead of calling, because the “phoneline” (not a real word) for which it’s named no longer exists. In fact, no one seems to know much about it. Not the rangers in the visitors center. Not the tour guide driving the shuttle. Not the volunteers you meet on the trail. No matter. That’s not why you’re reading this. You’re reading this because you like to hike. And this excellent trail ranks high in a playground that’s teeming with spectacul…

When it comes to public lands, Alaska is the most privileged state in the union. With more than 325 million acres of state and federal jurisdiction, there’s an endless stream of recreational opportunities up there. At the other end of the spectrum is Delaware, which has less than a thousand acres. Somewhere in between is Arizona — we rank fourth, behind Alaska, Nevada and California. Our 35 million-plus acres of public lands include state parks, national forests, wilderness areas, national monuments, national parks, national conservation areas and more.

“One of Arizona’s best trails is in a city park.” The notion is counterintuitive. Yet, despite its urban coordinates, everything about the Tom’s Thumb Trail measures up. The surrounding landscape is like a painting by Charles Russell, the easy-to-follow route is meticulously marked, there’s enough incline to burn off the lingering effects of that second helping of Christmas pudding, and the trail itself is so well groomed that your eyes can wander instead of watching every step. By almost any me…

If you’re too young to remember, or if maybe the ’70s are just a blur, here’s some of what was happening back in February 1974:

There are two ways to hike this trail. You can start at the bottom and work your way up, or you can do it the other way around — there are two-wheel-drive trailheads on both ends. Whichever route you choose, at some point, you’ll have to climb more than 1,700 feet up the face of the Mogollon Rim. It just depends on whether you want to tackle the ascent somewhere in the middle of the march, or postpone it until the end. This description is written for those who would rather not procrastinate.

It’s not unusual for serious hikers to drive right past the Bell Rock Vista Trailhead, writing it off as little more than a crowded parking lot where drive-by tourists pile in to make midday photos of one of the most recognizable rock formations in Arizona. And some of that is true. Like Mather Poin…

Tennis Imes sent us a letter in 1966. It came from Santa Monica, one of many letters we’d gotten in response to our thriving newborn. “Calls are coming in,” he wrote, “from friends and family...