Crown King, Arizona

The best starting point to access this hike is parking at the Mojave Picnic Area and heading up the Mojave Trail #200. At .4 miles, you will hit the junction and stating point for the Mojave Connector Trail. Head left at the saddle and begin a rapid ascent up switchbacks to a small flattened summ...

As the third longest trail in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, the Freedom Trail provides a great option for those looking for a longer hike, which can also be made even a bit longer by bolting on the Piestewa Summit hike along the way (adds 1.2 miles additional and a view from the top!). Many look...

Quartz Ridge in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve (also known as Trail 8A) is a great escape getaway trail that can be done as a single track or combined with many intersecting trails. It is a very popular trail for hikers, trail runners, pet walkers, sky gawkers and more! The trailhead sits in a sm...

The MineDixie mine was established in 1877, when mining scouts noticed the large amount of quartz in the area. The Dixie Mine was sold many times throughout the 20th Century and was ruled no longer efficient in 1977 when it was sold to the McDowell Mountain Regional Park. The PetroglyphsThe area ...

If you live near or around Phoenix, you know that Camelback Mountain is pretty hard to miss. Due to the mountain's height, this hike isn't exactly what you would call easy. There are two sides of the mountain you can hike, Echo Canyon and Cholla Trail. Echo Canyon is shorter, but still an extreme...

Park at the Echo Canyon Parking Area.From the trailhead, hike up Echo trail until your reach the saddle.  At the saddle, you will turn south and start taking the climbers trail to the headwall, which is just past the sign that says "caution, active bee area."  Once you reach the headwall, there a...

'The Crack' is a cliff jumper's dream, but it also offers something for everyone, with smooth rocks for sunbathing and shallow waters for wading. To get to The Crack, it's about a 3.5-mile hike each way, making it slightly less popular than Sedona's more accessible swimming holes. While you only ...

There is a fee to enter this area $7 per adult as of 2025 (see AZStateParks.com for updates). There are 4 trails with many viewpoints from the parking lot, all of which are out and back. We followed the recommendation of the ranger working at the visitor's center and took the Gowan Trail down to ...

Sunrise Peak, also known as Sunrise Trail, is located at the residential foothills of the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, Arizona. The trail will start next to a residential neighborhood, but after about a quarter mile you'll be immersed in the pristine Sonoran Desert. The trail will lead you t...

The Valley Vista trail is a short hike in Skyline Regional Park, located in the southern region of the White Tank Mountains west of Phoenix.  From the top you'll have a great view of the Estrella Mountain Range and the southwest valley.  For the most direct route, take the Turnbuckle trail.  This...