Welcome to Travel Tuesday! Flagstaff is home to all sorts of outdoor activities, including hiking! :] Join me today for a hike on Fatmans Loop Trail!
Fatmans Loop Trail in Flagstaff
Distance: 2.4 miles (loop)
Elevation: 690 ft
Difficulty: Moderate
Duration: ~1.5 hours
Trailhead Address: 35°13’49.1, -111°34’45.2″
Parking: Lot available
Fatman’s Loop is accessible from April to November and an awesome hike if you want a bit of a workout with a view of Flagstaff below you! This trail climbs up the eastern slope of Mount Elden and is a popular spot for hiking and trail running. (Dogs are allowed too! <3)
The trail is well-marked + pretty easy to follow. Start off at the Elden Lookout Trailhead parking lot; after you’ve hiked ~0.4 miles, you’ll see a sign for Fatman’s loop, so follow the signs accordingly!
Part of the trail has some ginormous rocks where it leads through the gaps between the rocks. One of them is ~4 feet wide, so if you’re wondering about the name of this trail, that’s apparently where it came from.
There are parts of the trail that get pretty steep, so keep that in mind! You can do this trail clockwise or counter-clockwise. (We chose to do it clockwise so it’d be more steep going up and more of a gradual descent!)
There’s an option to continue all the way up to the Elden Lookout (which is an extra 2 miles with a 2000 foot elevation gain–I’d love to go back and do that someday! :P ), as well as the Pipeline Trail and Oldham Trail.
You’ll have the opportunity to see lots of plants and wildlife too, including ponderosa pines, alligator bark juniper, oak trees, yucca plants, Abert’s squirrels (we unfortunately didn’t see any–the pictures of em’ look so cute!), mule deer, and Steller’s jays.
- Have you ever been to Flagstaff?
- Have you ever hiked something just because it had a weird name?
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Flagstaff is such a good area for pretty trails!
It seems a bit wrong to call this fatmans loop when if you did it regularly you’d be super skinny from the effort! I wonder how it got that name!?
Josy A recently posted…Paint Pots – Kootenay National Park
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haha, very true! I think it’s somewhat ironically named because there are parts of that trail where you definitely gotta be on the thinner side to be able to get through the rock formations there.
I’ve never been to Flagstaff -or Arizona extensively for that matter- so I’m always so interested to find new hikes and local gems like this! It really seems like a beautiful state! What a strange name for a hike though hahah. I like that it’s 2.4 miles! Long enough to workup a sweat, but not TOO long, yanno?
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haha, it was definitely a strange name–I think it was because of some rock formations where you had to be on the thinner side to be able to squeeze past so it’s kinda ironically named. It was a nice hike though + Arizona has so many pretty places to explore–I’d love to go back to see/do more someday!
I’ve always wanted to go to Flagstaff. I’ve heard its gorgeous and your photos definitely show that. Great post!
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Thank! Flagstaff is such a pretty place! I wanna go back to visit/explore some more someday!
That is such a beautiful trail! I bet you had a great time hiking through this trail. Thanks for sharing
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It was super pretty out there! :]
Such a cool area – looks like high intermountain desert. We definitely need to make it to Flagstaff someday. The closest we have been is when we drove by the exit on our way to Sedona (for our first honeymoon)! Nice photos and trail markers for future reference. Thank you
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Aww, Sedona is an absolutely gorgeous place! I’ve been there twice so far but would love to go back again–there are so many pretty trails there! :] I hope you have fun when you go!
This looks like such a great hike too! I love your outdoorsy life. It’s awesome. I need to do more of it. I know I love it every time I do. Thanks for another virtual hiking trip!
Lauren Elena recently posted…In Five Years Literary Date
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I’m glad you like these! I think I’ll be done writing about my road trip in like…May or June of next year if I continue with the one-a-week schedule, haha. Then I can finally start writing about the hikes from this year! (Hoping to finish writing/scheduling them by early next year! :P )
Thanks for posting such beautiful pictures of your trail in flagstaff. I can imagine that It’s been a great adventure for you.
Michael recently posted…Best Camping Cots for Bad Backs
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It was a lot of fun. :] Thanks for stopping by!
It was such a great place, Thank you for sharing your pretty trials in flagstaff. We wanted to go flagstaff.
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Aww, you’re welcome! I hope you get to go when it’s safer to travel! :]