Wandering Through an Amazing Transformation in Globe, Arizona

December 28, 2023 by David Ryan | 9 Comments

Back in 2014, I wrote a blog post about looking for and climbing public stairways in the Globe and Miami, Arizona area. The two copper mining towns have hilly terrain that is perfect for stairways. (Here’s the link to that post.) But you’ll see in that post that the stairways were not in the best of shape and rarely used.

About a year and a half ago I learned of a local initiative in Globe to freshen up their stairs and to feature them in a local walk. In my email exchanges with Regina Ortega-Leonardi and Thea Wilshire (the women behind the initiative), I learned that there were concerns from the city of Globe about ADA compliance and liability and assumed that the initiative would die on the vine.

But I was curious enough to put the proposed walk route on my radar scope and planned to follow it the next time I drove through Globe. And with my book project now in the hands of the designer, my dog Sparky and I drove down to Globe earlier this month to walk the route and climb whatever stairways came along.

This is map that was developed when the walk was proposed. We opted to follow the longer Purple Route and started in the center of Globe.

And we ran into a fantastic surprise. The Globe initiative was not dropped. It is now the Stairizona Trail that is complete with signage along the route.

Even better, the initiative goes way beyond signage. The stairways have been fixed up and decorated with mural designs made by local artists. Many of the walls along the way are now covered with very well done murals. And even the local Visitor Center has maps of the Stairizona Trail. There are also people offering guided tours. Here’s a link for the current map: https://livable2lovable.com/

And for me personally, I got to climb two stairways that I missed on my previous visits to Globe. And this is what Sparky and I found on our walk:

Our walk started in the center of Globe and we soon came upon this stairway. This is one the stairways I had missed.

This mural was right at the top of the stairs.

In no time at all, we ran into this stairway which was also new to me.

Although Saguaro are usually found at lower altitudes, someone managed to grow one near the top of the stairway.

In an era where few kids walk to school, the Stairizona Trail managed to incorporate an existing overpass next to a school into the route.

And here’s the other side of the overpass.

Even better, the overpass led to this alley/walkway that is now joined by a new mural.

The route even passed this “Timeline” of Globe history.

Because we opted for the longer route, we swung higher up in the hills to the west of the town center and had great views of Globe from above. The little side trail (see the trailhead sign above) leads to a gold “G” that you can see from all over Globe.

And here’s the “G” as seen from the center of Globe.

The route eventually took us off the hill and took advantage of an overpass to take us into the town center. The route went through the town center to an open area on the northside of the town center. When my dog Petey and I saw the same open area in 2014, the scene was quite different.

In 2014, you would never know that there was a stairway waiting for you at the end of the open area.

Today that blank wall is covered with several murals.

And now, there’s a welcoming entryway to the path leading to the stairs.

This how the stairs looked in 2014. I can guarantee you that Petey and I were the only ones who took the stairs that day.

And here are the same stairs today.

There’s even a fun mural and and a bench overlooking Globe along the walkway at the top of the stairs.

And for a final stairway of our walk, Globe has this great walkway, bridge, stair combination.

And as you can see, these stairs too have been decorated.

And at the top of the stairs, you’ll run into this very interesting house.

And to wrap our walk, you can still make out the “WPA/USA” stamp on many of the sidewalks and walkways. The WPA was probably responsible for building the stairs along our walk during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

As you can see, the Stairizona Trail is a perfect example of what a local community can do by using, oftentimes neglected, infrastructure that is already in place to make an extremely compelling walk. Perhaps you can take the initiative do something similar where you live.

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