(bright tone resonating) - Hey, I'm J.R., and on this season of "Trail Mix'd," I'm gonna take you around, under, and through Arizona.

Join me in my quest to see the best trails that Arizona has to offer, from the iconic spots to the hidden gems.

Along the way, we'll be diving deep into what makes Arizona's trails some of the best in the world.

So come on, let's take a hike.

(bright upbeat music) From the freezing tundras to the sweltering deserts, from the towering forest to the flat grasslands, from verdant marshes to flowing rivers, Arizona is host to an enormous variety of habitats across the state.

Due to this variety, Arizona has the highest biodiversity of any inland state and is home to more than 800 different fish and wildlife species.

Today we'll be exploring a small fraction of the biodiversity in this state.

(air whooshing) We'll start by heading to the very bottom of the state and exploring Ramsey Canyon and then head up to Catalina State Park to explore the desert.

(air whooshing) First up on our journey to see the variety in Arizona is a place that is the epitome of biodiverse.

Welcome to Ramsey Canyon.

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(air whooshing) (bird chirping) (leaves crunching) (air whooshing) (air whooshing) - Ramsey Canyon is a perfect place to explore the biodiversity of Arizona.

(bubble popping) (air whooshing) It's located where the Sierra Madre of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, and the Sonoran Desert meet, making it an ecological crossroads.

The trickling Ramsey Creek supports water-loving plants while desert plants like cacti and yuca grow mere feet away.

Today I met with Taylor Hanson to learn more about the preserve.

Hey, Taylor.

- Hey, J.R. - Hey, good to meet you.

- Good to meet you too.

- This is my first time to Ramsey Canyon.

It's so beautiful here.

- Yeah, I'm really glad you get to be up here and join us for a hike.

It's a really great day to get out and enjoy the nature out here.

- Do you think we might see some animals since we're pretty early on the trail?

- I think we should be able to, yeah.

- Okay, well, if you're ready to teach, I'm ready to learn.

- Awesome.

Let's go.

- All right.

Come on.

(bright gentle music) (air whooshing) (bubble popping) (bright gentle music continuing) (air whooshing) - Oh, hey, do you see those deer there at the hillside?

- I do.

Yeah.

Right behind that tree.

- [Taylor] Oh, they're really beautiful.

- [J.R.] I kinda want to make myself as small as possible to not scare 'em away.

Oh, there's a couple of them, huh?

- Oh, yeah, there's a few.

And I think they have some babies that they had last summer.

- Okay.

How many do you see up there?

- Let's see.

I'm seeing at least three.

There might be a fourth.

- [J.R.] Wow.

What's the species?

- So these are actually a subspecies of whitetail deer called Coues whitetail.

They're smaller than the other whitetail in the United States, are the second smallest subspecies, the smallest being the Florida Keys whitetail deer.

- [J.R.] They're really close to us right now.

- They're really close.

The wildlife here at Ramsey Canyon, while certainly not tame, is pretty used to seeing people around.

- Yeah.

Okay, well, that was fast.

We didn't have to go very far on the trail to find some animals.

Yeah, I'd love to see whatever you have in store next up.

- Absolutely.

Let's go.

(dirt crunching) - So this land that we're currently on is owned by The Nature Conservancy.

What do you guys do with the land?

What's the significance of that?

- Yeah, so at The Nature Conservancy, we aim to protect the lands and waters on which all life depends.

- Mm.

- And so being the world's largest environmental NGO, (bubble popping) we do that in a lot of different ways.

Here at Ramsey Canyon, this property was donated to us, and we do our best to protect it and educate the public about nature and what's going on with it.

- Mm.

Quite a noble cause.

- Oh, thanks.

- It's gotta feel good, right?

- Yeah, oh, it feels great, and it's always great getting to share all of this with people.

(gentle orchestral music) - Hey, what is this stick thing right here?

It kinda looks like bamboo.

- Oh, yeah, this stuff.

Yeah, It looks a lot like bamboo, doesn't it?

- Yeah.

- We call it Equisetum, which is part of their scientific name.

A lot of people call it horsetail or snake grass or scouring rush.

And unlike other plants that produce flowers to reproduce, these are more like ferns in that they produce spores that become more plants.

(bubble popping) - What are some of the threats to this area?

- Probably the greatest threat is actually climate change.

And with that, the water cycles here, the rain and other precipitation, are a lot more unpredictable.

So we're doing our best here at Ramsey Canyon to protect the creek and support it in ways (water burbling) to make it as healthy as possible to retain water on the preserve, and that keeps it ready to support the plants and animals that rely on it.

- So when you say climate change, what's happening?

What's the effect?

- Yeah, the unreliable and inconsistent precipitation, whether that's snow or rain, and we do get quite a bit of snow up here in the winters.

But with that unpredictability, that means we have less consistent water flowing through the creek.

- Okay.

That makes sense.

(gentle orchestral music continuing) (leaves crunching) (turkeys gobbling) (J.R. imitating turkey gobble) There you go.

I speak turkey natively.

It's my native tongue actually.

I never told you guys that, but I'm actually a turkey.

Watch.

(imitates gobbling).

I'll see you next Tuesday.

I'll see you at the bar.

Jerry, (turkey gobbling) What's this?

- Yeah, so up here we have a handful of artificial ponds.

We got these going, the first set, in the early 2000s, and the second set in 2017, and they were built for Chiricahua Leopard Frog conservation.

They're a federally threatened species, and so we've been working with Arizona Game and Fish to build these ponds, and then later they were able to reintroduce the frogs to these ponds.

- So they actually brought some from somewhere else and put 'em in?

- Yeah, they actually brought egg masses from some other ponds and dropped 'em off here to see if they'd take off, and they sure have, so now we've got loads of them.

If we pay attention as we walk by, we'll see their heads kinda poking out, but they blend in incredibly well.

They're called Leopard frogs because they have these incredible spots on them that look a lot like leopard print.

And with that, they blend into the habitats they're supposed to be in perfectly.

So you gotta keep your eyes peeled, but if you're quiet and slow, you can see their heads popping up above the water.

- I just see one, but he's right on top.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, there's another one just to his left.

Wait a minute!

They're everywhere.

(Taylor laughing) There's like four of 'em right there.

As soon as you know what shape to look for...

Wait, hold up a second.

I'm seeing literally like 50 of them.

There's a huge one right there.

Right there, the one that's moving.

There are literally probably 50 of them right there.

(gentle country music) Coatis are a rare site.

Coatis are found from Arizona to South America and are members of the raccoon family.

So we've seen all types of animals here.

We've seen so many varieties of birds, and we've seen, you know, turkeys just walking past us, squirrels, and everything's living in harmony, and, of course, in one of the most lush and biodiverse environments that we visited this season.

We finally see the elusive coati, so magical moments.

(gentle country music continues) (bubble popping) It's been fun touring the canyon, but I'm ready for some hiking.

For that, I'm meeting up with Dan Hoobler, a docent at the preserve.

(leaves crunching) - What's up, my brother?

- Well, hello, J.R. - Dan.

- How you doing, man?

- Good to meet you, man.

What you got there?

- Well, my binoculars, I'm looking at a...

Hear that?

(bird calling) It's an elegant trogon.

- Can I see it?

- Big, beautiful.

- I've never actually used binoculars.

Well, maybe when I was a kid, but.

- Well, they're probably not gonna be set for your eyes.

- Oh, okay.

- I have bad eyes, but you're welcome to look for 'em, and- (leaves crunching) - [J.R.] Where would I look?

- Well, come here.

He's calling right up here.

(leaves crunching) He's a big bright red and green bird, and he can be so hard to find.

- [J.R.] Oh, there he is.

There he is.

There he is.

Even though it's not set for my eyes, I can see him.

He's facing the other way.

- [Dan] Yeah, he's looking the other way.

- Oh!

- He's looking away from us.

- [J.R.] Does he have bright red feathers underneath?

- Bright red breast red.

- Oh!

- [Dan] A bright green back, and a- - It looks like he's puffing up.

- Probably is.

There may be a girl around here somewhere he's trying to impress.

- Oh.

Oh, yeah, looks like- - He's kinda looking at you.

- [J.R.] Yeah, that's really cool.

- [Dan] It's a Southeast Arizona rarity there.

- You know, oh, man.

Dude, that was my first birding experience.

Thank you so much.

- Well, congratulations.

I'm glad you to see it.

- So I believe you're taking me on the Hamburg Trail?

- Yeah, yeah, you ready?

- I'm 100% ready.

- All right, let's head out.

- Let's take a hike.

- Take a hike.

- You ever had anybody tell you that, "Take a hike, Dan."

- [Dan] (chuckles) More times than I care to remember.

(J.R. laughing) (both chuckling) - [J.R.] What's that one song?

♪ Hit the road, Jack ♪ ♪ Don't come back no more, no more, no more, no more ♪ ♪ Hit the road, Jack ♪ (J.R. imitates horn blowing) ♪ Don't come back no more.

♪ ♪ Oh, what you say ♪ - I can't do that part.

(J.R. chuckles) (lively big band music) - [J.R.] (exhales sharply) Heart rate up, Dan?

- Yes.

(J.R. chuckling) This is about the worst part of the trail.

- Okay, or the best part, depending on how you look at it, right?

- Yeah.

Well, from my point of view, it's the worst.

Undoubtedly.

(J.R. chuckling) - [J.R.] I love your honesty, man (chuckling).

- I'm glad they got all these heart attack benches along here.

- I hear you, brother.

(trumpet blows sharply) So can you tell me why this area is so biodiverse?

- Yeah, well, there's four main ecosystems here: the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madres and the Mojave Desert and the Chihuahua Desert and the Sonoran Desert.

That's five, but so just from that aspect right there, there's all kinds of different life, but the elevational change from 9,000 feet to 4,000 feet by the river, there's high elevation species up there, low elevation species down there.

It's a remarkable, remarkable ecosystem that is really not replicated anywhere else in the States.

- Is it because of the significant elevation change?

- Yeah.

- In such a short- - Yeah.

- That is really cool.

And that's plants and animals, huh?

- [Dan] Plants and animals.

(birds chirping) - [J.R.] Oo wee!

- Hell, he killed it.

- Oh, Dan!

Okay, okay, we're good (chuckling).

We're good.

- I told you.

(J.R. laughing) - Oh, I think that's a sign that we should take a break.

- We need a break, man.

- Oh, my gosh.

How you feeling?

I think I'll make it.

- Yeah, - It's a little early to tell, but it's looking better.

- Do you do this hike often?

- No.

- Okay.

- Hear that bird singing up here?

- I do.

- That's a black-headed grosbeak.

- Grosbeak?

- Grosbeak, they got a... You know how most birds beaks look like this?

Theirs look like this.

- That is gross, honestly.

- And they can pop open pine cones and they can eat all sorts of stuff.

- So Sky Islands, I've been hearing (bubble popping) all different explanations, and I'm trying to figure out like, is it because the mountains are in the sky and the top of the mountain is almost an ecology island of its own?

- Well, that's certainly the case, and they are an ecological isolation zone unto themselves.

Readily, wildlife and plants will move north and south along these Sky Islands, but they're just reluctant to go east and west, down through those harsh desert environments in the river valleys.

- Cool.

Well, what do you think, you want to hit it?

- No, but I will, buddy.

- How much longer?

- Four hours.

- No, don't do that.

Dan, don't do that.

You're gonna raise my heart rate.

You're gonna raise my cardio rate just by scaring me.

- 15 minutes.

- Okay, we got this, man.

- I'm gonna get in front of you so I can slow you down.

(J.R. chuckling) - Phew.

- Mm-hmm.

- That's right.

- That's right.

- I second that notion.

- Okay, does that look like the overlook?

- Okay, that feels like a leading question.

So my instincts tell me that (chuckling) this isn't it.

- That ain't it.

(J.R. laughing) - Do people come up here sometimes and think they're done?

- Yup, yup, they get there and they think, "What?

Walk wasn't worth that."

- Wait, before we carry on, what is this beautiful red and green tree?

- Okay, this is called manzanita.

And my Spanish is pretty rusty.

Actually, I don't know hardly any, but I think manzana is apple.

and this is, so manzanita is little apple.

(bubble popping) And this, you can see some of the fruits on it here, and when they get ripe, they do turn red.

And I think the Native Americans use that as a food source, but I know birds and coatis and some of the other mammal deer, they eat on this.

- [J.R.] Would they eat 'em before they're ripe?

- Oh, birds do a lot, yeah.

- What about if a human eats it before it's ripe?

- You might make a funny face, but I don't think it's poisonous.

- Will you grab me a bunch, like a bunch of, a little bunch of apple?

- Let's try one first.

I know you're big and tough, but.

- That may be one of the most bitter, horrible things I've ever eaten in nature.

(Dan chuckling) Thank you for protecting me from the entire bunch.

- It was your idea, brother.

(J.R. laughing) - Well, look, man, the sun is beating.

Is is it time?

Is it time for us to get up there?

- It's time to get somewhere.

- Take one for the road.

- Out of the sun.

(dirt crunching) Well, J.R., we made it.

- Yes.

Yes, sir.

- [Dan] We made it up to the top, as high as we're gonna go anyway.

- Yeah, as safe as we could be.

- Oh, that feel so good.

This makes the hike worth it.

Hey, man, dude, this is the most epic ending to this trail ever, man.

I appreciate your energy.

It's been good joking around with you.

- It was my pleasure, man.

I had a blast.

You made that hill climb enjoyable.

- I appreciate you, and all the information you gave me was pretty enlightening, so I deeply appreciate you.

Don't lose your hat!

That's why I got mine strapped.

- My hat blowing away.

- [J.R.] Ramsey Canyon is an amazing place to hike if you're looking to spot rare animals like coati or leopard frogs.

Another rare animal to spot while hiking is a desert tortoise, but if you wanna see one of those, there's a place you can find dozens of them just outside of Phoenix.

- My name is Tegan Wolf, and I'm with the Desert Tortoise Adoption Program with Game and Fish, and I'm gonna show you guys around to our tortoise adoption program area and see all the tortoises.

So this is where we keep all of our tortoises.

We get in maybe 200, 300 a year from...

They're all captives, so we don't get anything from the wild.

So these come from people who can no longer house them, people who are moving out of state, but the biggest thing that we get them from is illegal breeding.

It is illegal to have them produce multiple babies 'cause they can have 12 every year, and they continue to have offspring even after being separated from the male for about five years.

They'll primarily eat grass and native plants.

If you don't have that, you can supplement with timothy or Bermuda hay.

You can do produce, but limited produce.

Like we're giving them lettuce today 'cause it's a little extra warm today, so they get that little bit of extra water source.

(tortoise munching) Fruit is very, very limited.

You don't wanna do much fruit.

It's got too much sugar, and their bodies just don't process it very well.

This is our juvenile enclosure.

This is where we house most of our juveniles.

They range from about a year old to maybe five or six years old.

(tortoise munching) So the big difference between a tortoise and a turtle is a tortoise is more heavy bodied, but they also don't have webbed feet and they need to be on land.

Turtles would technically typically have webbed feet, are more built for water, so they're more slender, fairly long nails.

Their nails are typically longer than a tortoises.

These are native to Arizona, so we actually do have these out in the wild.

A lot of people will ask why we don't just return these to the wild, and it's because there is a respiratory disease that is caused by the bacteria of mycoplasma, and it's not known, not super common in our wild population.

We don't know if they actually have it without doing testing, which is very extensive.

We can't do it on every tortoise.

There is a possibility for a false negative.

To keep our wild population safe, if they are born in captivity, they're from captivity, they've been in captivity for more than a certain amount of time, they unfortunately have to stay in captivity.

They cannot be released into the wild.

So to adopt a desert tortoise, (bubble popping) all you have to do is have a burrow in your yard.

That's the hardest thing that you have to do.

There's no application fee.

There's no adoption fee.

We do accept donations, but building this is gonna be the hardest thing that you have.

You can't have a open pool.

It needs to be gated.

It will sink.

If you have a firepit that's in the ground, like an inground firepit, they will walk, get into it, so we need to have an above ground firepit, if you have one.

If your yard is completely enclosed, that's great.

They can run your whole yard.

If you don't, then you'll need to build an enclosure for them in your backyard to stay in.

(bright country music) - [J.R.] For many people, the word desert conjures up images of a scorching place where little life can survive.

Well, the Arizona deserts are certainly scorching, but devoid of life?

Hardly.

In fact, out of the four US deserts, the Sonoran Desert is the most diverse.

Around 300 birds, 100 reptiles, 60 mammals, and 2,000 native plants thrive in the Sonoran Desert.

If you're looking to get your fix of the desert, there's a beautiful state park just outside of the Tucson metropolitan area.

(air whooshing) (bubble popping) Welcome to Catalina State Park.

(air whooshing) This is my friend Gabril, artist and student of botany.

Really good friend of mine.

I'm super excited to get even a portion of your deep knowledge of the desert floral.

- Yeah, I'm very happy to be here today.

Looking forward to see what the nature trail has in store for us.

- Amazing.

You ready?

- Let's do it.

- Come on, let's take a hike.

(air whooshing) The nature trail is an easy loop, just one mile long, but if you don't have a plant-obsessed friend like Gabe, the trail side signs are a wealth of information about the plants and animals nearby.

(air whooshing) (dirt crunching) - You see that purple flower?

- Yeah.

- That's a thistle.

This is another native flower of this desert.

- Wow.

See a little puff.

Ooh.

(laughing) that is self-defense.

- Yeah, this area here, you stay away from, on the bottom.

I should have mentioned that.

- Yeah, you told me too late.

(Gabril laughing) Oh, my God.

- You see?

- Wow.

- So that's protecting it until it's ready.

- [J.R.] Okay, well, it worked.

It's protected.

(laughs) (dirt crunching) - This is nice.

This is a Cochemiea grahamii or the Arizona fish hook cactus.

You can see why they call it that, these little fish hooks all around it.

It's got a beautiful white color to it.

Here's another beautiful plant.

They call this one the fairy duster, and you can see why.

- [J.R.] Oh, I've never seen petals like this.

So these are the flowers?

- Yes.

- Wow.

So skinny.

- Here's another great example of that amazing brittle bush, Encelia farinosa.

A great example of a microclimate.

This is a brittle bush, and it's enjoying the shade (bubble popping) that this Palo Verde gives it.

You know, Greenwood, another beautiful desert plant.

- There's thorns on everything out here, man.

- They evolve to survive harsh conditions, make sure nothing eats it, right?

So this here is a scarlet poppy, beautiful orange, beautiful purples, and they just stand out against all of this dry green and brown.

They're all over the mountainside - [J.R.] Easily the most iconic Arizona plant is the saguaro cactus, a stunning symbol of resilience in the desert heat.

Saguaros are only found one place in the entire world, and that's here in the Sonoran Desert.

- So this really is an exceptional, beautiful, majestic example of a saguaro or a Carnegiea gigantea, and it is one of the largest cacti in the world.

The skeleton is used as lumber by the Indigenous people, it has been, and also tools.

And it's a keystone species, meaning that it provides food, shelter, and protection for many things here in the Arizona Sonoran Desert.

It's protected and- - Federally, right?

- Yes, and so you can't mess with it in any way unless you have one on your land.

It is something that you can buy at a nursery or if you can come across seas, you can grow it, although it's a very slow grower, but still an amazing, amazing plant.

- There's so many beautiful desert plants out here.

Could I plant some of them at my place?

- Yeah, these are all, for the most part, native plants, so this is something that would do very well in your landscape in Phoenix.

And actually considering that we have a lack of water, and that looks like it's gonna continue for the foreseeable future, these are definitely sustainable options that will provide habitat and ornamental value.

Another added benefit of growing these native flora of Arizona is that, for example, like like a saguaro or the hedgehog cactus, they make amazing, amazing fruits, beautiful colors, beautiful flavors, textures.

So there's extreme culinary value there.

Mesquites, they make pods that can be grounded to different flowers.

Many of these wildflowers have medicinal values as well.

So you could create a beautiful ornamental native garden at your home in, let's say, Phoenix, but you could actually go out there and start picking fruits and leaves and edible flowers and really have just a magnificent diversity of flavors.

(gentle serene music) - Babbling Brooks, high windy lookouts, scorching deserts, lush water-loving plants, towering cacti, red-barked manzanita and green-barked Palo Verde.

Frogs, deer, lizards, rare birds, and coatis.

Unfortunately, due to climate change and other challenges, much of this life is threatened.

Like Gabe said, this is here for all of us, not just humans, but all the different flora and fauna.

When it comes to biodiversity, there's no better place to explore than Arizona.

Let's do our best to protect it so the generations that come after us can enjoy it just as much as we do now.

(gentle serene music continues) Thank you so much for hiking Ramsey Canyon and Catalina State Park with me.

It's been amazing being deeply immersed in biodiversity and witnessing all these plants and animals coexisting, but more than anything, the more time I spend here, I realize how important it is that humans and nature can coexist in the same way.

As always, I appreciate your time and energy.

We'll catch you on the next trail.