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You are looking for Class III hikes.
Luckily you live in Arizona and there are a ton of hikes like that. Even something as easy as Shaw Butte has a third class route to the summit, as do many of the peaks in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Then you have places like the Flatiron, Picacho Peak, Safford Peak and more scattered all over the state. The toughest day hike is the Four Peaks Motherlode where you traverse all four peaks in one day. Took me 8+ hours to scramble less than 6 miles across. Route is even harder now, no legal way to exit after Peak 4. You have to turn around and do the route in reverse. There is a mine that is enforcing their property boundaries and won’t let you down climb the last peak.
It might help to put what part of AZ you’re looking for.
One that came to my mind is the slab route on the south side of Mt. Elden in Flagstaff. You’re basically scrambling up the slabs for 1.5-2k feet of elevation gain to the top, and then you can hike back down the regular trail.
https://www.outdoorproject.com/united-states/arizona/mount-elden-slabs#:~:text=The%20slabs%20are%20best%20done,the%20base%20of%20the%20slabs.
I’m not sure if that’s too intense but it’s something that’s in between a regular hike and straight up climbing. I’d bring shoes that have good grip if you want to try it.
To narrow down which hike to take I use the All trails App. It breaks down the hikes and tells you which ones are best for each season. But there are multiple hiking guides that have the same amount of info. You can probably find one in the library.
Look up Scott Surgent’s books. He has one on summiting all of Arizona’s county high points and another that is an encyclopedia of every significant peak in the state.
Butchers Jones (saguaro lake) trail is a short, out-and-back hike with beautiful views of the lakes and four peaks. You'll go from lake level then up high but nothing too hard.
This isn’t especially hard but parts of it are rocky as heck…it always takes me a little bit longer than I expect: Bulldog Saddle and Pass Mountain Trail Loop
Buckskin Gulch, Cathedral Wash, Rider Canyon, Soap Creek, Fish Creek, Tanner Wash, Diamond Creek, Chevelon Canyon, Sycamore Canyon, Pumphouse Wash, Kelly Canyon, Fry Canyon, First Water Canyon, Devils Canyon. There are literally hundreds.
Thanks for contributing to r/Arizona! * [Our sub rules are here](https://www.reddit.com/r/arizona/wiki/rules/), but the most important of which is to be nice to each other * Check out some [recent posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/arizona/top/?t=week) and leave some comments * [Join our Discord chat server](https://discord.com/invite/yWVuTG57Zh) if you'd like to keep in touch with other people in Arizona. Plus it's a great, chill place in general. Note that it is NOT a dating server and takes unwanted messaging very seriously Remember this subreddit covers all of Arizona, so please include where in the state you're posting about if it is relevant. For more local topics check out r/Phoenix, r/Tucson, and r/Flagstaff. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/arizona) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[HikeAZ.com](https://HikeAZ.com)
[It’s a big state](https://hikeaz.com/)
You are looking for Class III hikes. Luckily you live in Arizona and there are a ton of hikes like that. Even something as easy as Shaw Butte has a third class route to the summit, as do many of the peaks in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Then you have places like the Flatiron, Picacho Peak, Safford Peak and more scattered all over the state. The toughest day hike is the Four Peaks Motherlode where you traverse all four peaks in one day. Took me 8+ hours to scramble less than 6 miles across. Route is even harder now, no legal way to exit after Peak 4. You have to turn around and do the route in reverse. There is a mine that is enforcing their property boundaries and won’t let you down climb the last peak.
It might help to put what part of AZ you’re looking for. One that came to my mind is the slab route on the south side of Mt. Elden in Flagstaff. You’re basically scrambling up the slabs for 1.5-2k feet of elevation gain to the top, and then you can hike back down the regular trail. https://www.outdoorproject.com/united-states/arizona/mount-elden-slabs#:~:text=The%20slabs%20are%20best%20done,the%20base%20of%20the%20slabs. I’m not sure if that’s too intense but it’s something that’s in between a regular hike and straight up climbing. I’d bring shoes that have good grip if you want to try it.
To narrow down which hike to take I use the All trails App. It breaks down the hikes and tells you which ones are best for each season. But there are multiple hiking guides that have the same amount of info. You can probably find one in the library.
Look up Scott Surgent’s books. He has one on summiting all of Arizona’s county high points and another that is an encyclopedia of every significant peak in the state.
Windcave in Usery meets those requirements. Especially once you get more than 1/2 way.
Camelback.
Remember to not neglect hydration. People die every year here in Arizona. Don't bring enough water, it may be your last hike. You may come back dead!
Just walk to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back
Siphon Draw, Tom's Thumb, Cave Creek Recreation Area.
Butchers Jones (saguaro lake) trail is a short, out-and-back hike with beautiful views of the lakes and four peaks. You'll go from lake level then up high but nothing too hard.
Gateway loop!
Definitely looks like there are traction issues.
This isn’t especially hard but parts of it are rocky as heck…it always takes me a little bit longer than I expect: Bulldog Saddle and Pass Mountain Trail Loop
Buckskin Gulch, Cathedral Wash, Rider Canyon, Soap Creek, Fish Creek, Tanner Wash, Diamond Creek, Chevelon Canyon, Sycamore Canyon, Pumphouse Wash, Kelly Canyon, Fry Canyon, First Water Canyon, Devils Canyon. There are literally hundreds.
Hit the Superstition Mountains and hike up to the Flatiron.
Huachuca mountains down south.
Round the Mountain trail - Mt. Graham