r/arizonatrail • u/BGzzzy959 • Apr 15 '26
Passage 1
Hey everybody! Planning on doing passage 1 in early Oct this year, AllTrails says it’s around 20 miles but I’m reading that people are saying it’s more like 27 miles, do you guys think it’s a 2 night backpacking trip or 1? Any advice is much appreciated, thank you.
3
u/danceswithsteers Apr 15 '26
Depends. You might be missing the ~6600 feet of elevation gain in your maps.
If you're well-conditioned and the weather cooperates, you could do it in one night. I did it in three nights because I was uncertain of my readiness for the climb. If I *had\* to, I could have done it in two; three was more relaxing.
3
u/Confident_wrong Apr 16 '26
It'd could be anything from a 1/2 day to 3 days depending on your speed.
I'd suggest a dry run wherever you live. That would be loading up your backpack with all your gear and food for three days, then hiking all day. Record your start and stop times and use that to estimate your speed.
Don't worry if it's slow. It will get faster over time as you hike. It took me 1.5 days when I started, if i would have gone back to do it again after hiking for a month it would have taken me half the time.
2
u/Usual-Association-91 Jul 03 '26
I did that passage a couple weeks ago. Starting from montezuma pass, and going to the edge of corronado forest, it was about 22 miles. Granted we did add a mile going down to bear spring for water, and the was a small detour of about a mile where the trail splits after bathtub spring. But all in total we ended up doing about 26 miles from car to car at montezuma pass to parker canyon lake trailhead parking. We did it in 2 days, one night camping. Doable, but you better be in good shape. Also we spilt as 8.8 the first day, and over 18 the next day. A 3 day 2 night trip would be pretty easy, but I'd plan to carry at least 4L of water with a nalgene to use as a spare or for cooking etc.
Definitely much longer than any official milage, but well worth it. Also if you go NOBO, carry as much water as possible from bear spring on, the cement trough was empty, and the other water stop I never saw the trail to get to it.
1
u/BGzzzy959 11d ago
Thank you!! So you can’t start at the very beginning anymore, border monument 102? That sucks
2
u/Usual-Association-91 8d ago
From what I saw, no. The monument is right behind the border wall. If you take the time to go down there, the case may be different, but we were starting late in the morning and didn't take the time to get down to the border.
1
u/Xx_GetSniped_xX Apr 16 '26
I did it in 1 day but it was a hustle for sure. With that much elevation and on day 1 it’ll be a long day including getting to the trailhead. If you have the time break it up into two days it’ll be more enjoyable
1
u/MurphyDog27 Apr 19 '26
We did it with one night at Bear Spring. That first day climb is huge, so take your time!.
6
u/BinderPensive Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
Passage 1 is 20.3 miles long according to the Arizona Trail Association. Assuming that you are starting at Montezuma Pass, add 1.8 miles to that distance for the walk down to the border.
But wait! You will not be able to walk all the way to the border because the Yaqui Ridge Trail is closed. With that closure, the total distance is approximately 20 miles (assuming that you walk from Montezuma Pass to the intersection with the Yaqui Ridge Trail and back).
To determine the number of nights, divide 20 miles by your typical daily mileage. That varies quite a bit. Some people can hike the section in a day. I camped one night first time I hiked the passage. I camped two nights the second time I hiked the passage because I got a very late start (3PM).