Fatman's Loop Trail – Coconino National Forest

Arizona's landscape is largely shaped by volcanic activity. A special geological hotspot is located north of Flagstaff: the San Francisco Volcanic Field. Over 600 small to massive volcanoes rise above the area. Some are almost six million years old, others only about 1,000 years old. One of them is Elden Mountain, at the foot of which this hike runs. The Fatman's Loop takes you into fragrant juniper and pine forests with great views of the landscape.

It starts on the outskirts of Flagstaff on the Elden Lookout Trail, which warms you up with a gentle climb. Before the trail climbs steeply after around 1.3 kilometers, it's worth taking a break. Enjoy the wonderful panorama of the forests and volcanoes, then tackle the serpentines that take you to an altitude of 2,270 meters. Shortly after you pass the highest point of the tour, the Fatman's Loop Trail closes and takes you to the rock formation that gave the trail its name.

You wind your way through a narrow but manageable gap between two massive, rounded rocks that lie directly on the trail. From this cool passage, you now hike back down and back to the starting point. Incidentally, the Elden Pueblo, a prehistoric Native American village, once stood at the foot of Mount Elden. The area was inhabited by the Sinagua from around 1070 to 1275.