Easiest and Nicest Hiking Trails in Phoenix area (Mesa, Glendale: home, design)

[calipoppy]

What are a few easy/beginners hiking trails around the Phoenix area? And where are the trailheads located?

[Wally Sconce]

Trails are everywhere North, south, east and west central.. too many to mention check Phoenix. gov hiking.

[calipoppy]

Originally Posted by Wally Sconce

Trails are everywhere North, south, east and west central.. too many to mention check Phoenix. gov hiking.

Thank you for the website suggestion. I was also looking for a few personal opinions and recommendations as well.

[stevek64]

Waterfall Trial in the White Tank Mountains is an easy and nice trail.

Waterfall Trail - White Tanks • Hiking • Arizona • HikeArizona.COM

There's a pool of water at the end of the hike and sometimes a trickle of a waterfall. Or a decent waterfall after rains.

Here's the website of the park:

Parks & Recreation - Maricopa County

[Wally Sconce]

Apache Wash Trailhead

[exit2lef]

Some of the best known and most centrally located trails are also the hardest: Piestewa Peak, Camelback, etc. Many visitors and first-time hikers make the mistake of starting with those trails and get in over their heads.

Fortunately, there are alternatives throughout the entire metro area. Some of my favorite easy trails, which I would define as ones I can take my children on with minimal whining:

Marcus Landslide Trail -- located in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve in far northeast Scottsdale. It's a long drive to get to this trail, but worth it for the mushroom-shaped rocks and the landslide remnants seen at the end. It's 3.7 miles with minimal elevation change. Sunny in the morning, shaded in the afternoon.

Piestewa Peak Nature Trail -- Located at the north end of the park, past the overcrowded summit trail. This involves a little elevation gain to get to a nicely vegetated area. It's possible to combine the 302 and 304 trails for a short scenic loop. Be warned, though, that all the summit hikers fill the parking lot at peak times, so try to hike this one on a weekday.

Lookout Mountain -- located in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve in north Phoenix. The trailhead is where 16th St. dead ends just south of Greenway. Getting to the summit requires a bit of scrambling, but the circumference trail is a gentle loop of 2.6 miles

Merkle and Vista trails -- located in Usury Mountain Park, just outside Mesa. The much longer Pass Mountain Trail is nearby, for those who want something easier, the Merkle Trail is a gentle, scenic one mile loop. Add the Vista Trail for a bit of elevation gain and the views get even better.

North Trail -- located in McDowell Mountain Regional Park. This 2.9-mile loop has a lot of vegetation and good views with minimal elevation gain. This trail can be a nice precursor to eventually hiking the 5-mile Scenic Trail in the same park. It's has even better views with a little elevation gain in places.

Beverly Canyon and Javelina Canyon trails -- located at South Mountain and accessible via the 46th St. Trailhead, which is much less crowded than the Pima Canyon Trailhead in Ahwatukee. These are gentle trails, each about a mile long. You can combine them with a brief segment of the Ridgeline Trail to create a loop of about 3 miles with some views.

Thunderbird Conversation Park -- located in north Glendale. Trailhead on 59th Avenue a mile or two north of the 101 Freeway. All the trails in this preserve are pretty easy.

Sunrise Mountain Trail -- the one in Peoria, not the much harder one in Scottsdale. This is an easy in-and-out hike through north Peoria. It goes up and down a little, but never really up to a summit. The city of Peoria designates beginner, intermediate, and advanced routes. The beginner one is only 1.5 miles.

There are many more , but this is what I can think of right now. In general, don't assume the trails you hear about the most are the ones to start with. Explore a little on the websites of various cities (Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria, Scottsdale) and the Maricopa County Parks Department.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by stevek64

Waterfall Trial in the White Tank Mountains is an easy and nice trail.

Waterfall Trail - White Tanks • Hiking • Arizona • HikeArizona.COM

There's a pool of water at the end of the hike and sometimes a trickle of a waterfall. Or a decent waterfall after rains.

Here's the website of the park:

Parks & Recreation - Maricopa County

Good choice. Forgot that one of my list, but it's a fun, short hike.

[ElleTea]

Keep in mind that regional parks charge per car to use the area. City parks such as North and South Mountain, or those areas that are part of preserves (such as McDowell Mountain preserve...not regional park) do not. I prefer not to pay $6 just to hike.

Most parks are going to have perimeter trails (little to no elevation) that are fairly easy and good for a beginner. Just remember to take more water than you think you will need.

[BIG CATS]

You can hike the flat land inside the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. Trail #100 leads all over the inside of the park and is mostly flat. You can access the main trailhead on 40th St, south of Shea Blvd. Just be sure not to leave any garbage, know the trail etiquette (read the signs before heading off), and keep your music inside your headphones only. If you wear external speakers, youre likely to get chewed out for being rude. Respect the desert's silence.

[grmi66]

The easiest trail in town is Murphy's Bridal Path. It's a nice wide trail that starts at Central Avenue and Bethany Home Road and goes north from there. Plus the majority of the trail is in the shade. Trail #100 is a nice introduction to the city's mountain preserves. The nice thing about Phoenix is pretty much wherever you are in the valley, it's usually never more than 20 minutes to some sort of trailhead.