Arizona State Parks and Trails

An Arizona State Parks and Trails employee walks a trail while wearing the Trekker 360-degree camera system on loan from Google.

If you’re going to take advantage of this cooler weather by heading out for a hike, Arizona State Parks and Trails has a new virtual tool to help you plan your trip. 

Nearly 200 miles of trails throughout all of Arizona’s state parks are now visible using the Street View function on Google Maps.

Google loaned a 360-degree camera system at no cost to Arizona State Parks and Trails for the project. Earlier this year, a team of 10 agency employees spent about six weeks covering trails and campsites on foot while carrying the 45-pound camera system to create the images for visitors. 

"It’s just a really neat way for people to navigate from their desk and see what we have to offer," said Michelle Thompson, with Arizona State Parks and Trails. “If they were looking at something and they wanted to say, ‘Is this a hike I’d be able to accomplish? Is this going to be too difficult for me? What does the park look like? Should I make the drive?’ Then that’s all something that they can see." 

As with Google Street View, the photos show just one point in time, not a live view. So Thompson said it’s still important to check weather and trail conditions before heading out for a hike.