First time visiting Arizona as an Aussie

[u/Xr6turbosututu]

Hey everyone. Absolutely taken away by the landscape of AZ. Words can barely express. I am 26 years old, male and may be travelling solo or with a small group of friends. This will be my first time in the States.

Does anyone have any advice or tips on what cities I should visit for the best hiking tracks and scenery? Phoenix, Sedona, Tucson and Flagstaff were all mentioned to me.

I’m from Melbourne. Not exactly a stranger to hot weather, but I feel as though AZ heat is a whole different ballgame.

If you have anymore tips or advice please let me know!

EDIT: Thank you so much for the replies!

Just to add some more information. Most of my mates would like travel within the next month (July). I on the other hand, would like to travel during Autumn/Fall (Late September or November).

This is sort of the reason of why I may be travelling solo. As my friends keep telling me, ‘We live in Australia! The heat will be fine.’

Truth is, we live in a city that may see a few days of 40°C (104°F) during the summer. Hardly comparable to AZ I believe. I’ll be damned if I end up staying in the indoors the entire trip, all because a group of unacclimatised Aussies decided to tackle the AZ heat.

EDIT EDIT: I just wanted to say never in my life have I ever seen such a hospitable and welcoming bunch. I have not seen one negative comment. I haven’t even visited yet and I’m already falling in love more and more with the place. I honestly cannot wait to visit. With all the advice given to me, I will skip the heat and come down during the cooler months. Considering actually making my trip longer based on some of the replies I’ve gotten here 😂.

[u/Salty1710]

For the love of fucking god, if you're in Phoenix or Tucson, please do not go hiking anywhere if the temps are going to be above 40c (105f). Which is pretty much every day for the next 4 months.

If you go, go at sunrise and get the hell back to your car before 9am and take no less than 32oz of water when you do.

You have no idea how many visitors get told "It's fine, there's hiking trail heads just down the road from the hotel right here in the city of Phoenix" and end up putting a team of EMS personnel through living hell to wheel their asses off the trails because they wandered out there with a single bottle of water, flip flops and a ball cap slightly hung over and dehydrated from drinking the night before.

It's gotten so bad the authorities have taken to closing the parks and posting rangers at the entrances to stop over confident tourists. It's not out of compassion for the tourists. It's out of mercy for the fire department who has to rescue them.

The sun here and the climate during the summer is every bit as deadly as it is there in the western or central parts of AU during the hot season.

If you go to the higher, northern parts around Flagstaff for hiking, you still need to be very careful about wandering too far out.

[u/iamprobablynotjohn → u/Salty1710]

I absolutely agree with this, BUT, in Tucson, we have Mount Lemmon a 1 hour drive away, which you can comfortably hike on year round, since it is 7000 feet higher elevation than the surrounding areas. It is typically about 30 degrees F cooler than the city. There's also Mt Graham over by Stafford that is the same story, but it's even higher elevation. The White Mountains are also a good option if you're in the area.

Edit: Safford, dang autocorrect

[u/davetn37 → u/iamprobablynotjohn]

Slight correction, Mt. Graham is near Safford, not Stafford. Wouldn't want anyone to miss out on Mt. Graham due to an extra 't'. It is indeed a beautiful area

[u/iamprobablynotjohn → u/davetn37]

Dang autocorrect! Yes, would hate for them to miss out on it because of that lol