Mountains/Hikes around the valley with great views for photos? (Phoenix: military, title)

[Arizona Renegade]

I've been meaning to post and ask about this for a while, but I've kept putting it off. After seeing a really cool panoramic photo from South Mountain that someone took with their cell phone and posted in another thread, though, it inspired me to want to actually sit down and take the time to ask about this. So, I was hoping to get some suggestions about some reasonable hikes that can be made to get some good/cool/spectacular/breathtaking views of the valley from up high? And by reasonable, I mean something that an average adult could likely hike within 30 minutes to an hour each way. Or, at least, something around that.

I've hiked up the Papago Mountains (that are along McDowell, near the Military Base that's around what would be 60th Street, near the Phoenix/Scottsdale border) a few times and there are some pretty cool views available from up on top of them, but they are relatively small and offered views that were nothing like what I've seen in pictures posted from places like Camelback, Piestewa and South Mountain, and the Superstitions Mountains over in the East valley near Apache Junction.

I've read up a little on some of these hikes (on Yelp, TripAdvisor, and AllTrails.com) after I saw an awesome picture online, that was apparently taken from what I think was an area of Siphon Draw called the Flatiron up in the Superstition Mountains; but it sounds like that's a hike that can take 4-6 hours each way. And while I really love to take pictures, I am not interested in spending 8-12 hours hiking, especially, in the warmer weather, and considering that I'm not an experienced hiker, nor am I in particularly great shape.

By the way, just to elaborate a little, while I do enjoy hiking, as it offers some exercise that I desperately need, I would specifically like to be able to take some pictures of the valley, so please keep that in mind. And if I could find a place to hike that's not as popular and busy as Camelback, with a good chance of there being less people there, that would be nice. I work nights, and am off work on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays, so I'm thinking that I might be able to take advantage of having this schedule and get over to do some hiking while there are not many other people out and about during the week, really early in the morning or during the day (and, yes, I'm aware that it gets hot and that water is critically important to have with me) while most people are at work.


So, if some of you more-experienced hikers and photographers could offer me some suggestions about this topic, I would really appreciate it!

[43north87west]

Shaw Butte #306 has some nice views of the city to the south. You can hike up to the radio towers too for some other views.

North Mountain #44 has other good views, but the trail is also a paved road, so it attracts a lot of people.

The top of Squaw Peak is another good one. The trail is quick (~30 minutes up). Lots of it is more like stone stairs. The view from the top is good, but you have to deal with a lot of people on the way up. Midday is better especially in summer.

If you want the most solitude, South Mountain Park is your place. On summer afternoons, there are hardly any people anywhere on the whole trail system. Western ridgeline trails are totally dead because they are harder to get to.

If you want a quick introduction to South Mountain Park, you can drive up to the top and try one of the trails up there (busier). Or try Mormon trail from the 24th St. trailhead (quick to the top and nice city views).

Part of the fun of taking pictures from different locations is the variety of perspectives. Plus the natural scenery and wildlife in our preserves is really something interesting, even if you weren't intending on taking pictures of it.

[Arizona Renegade]

Originally Posted by 43north87west

Shaw Butte #306 has some nice views of the city to the south. You can hike up to the radio towers too for some other views.

North Mountain #44 has other good views, but the trail is also a paved road, so it attracts a lot of people.

The top of Squaw Peak is another good one. The trail is quick (~30 minutes up). Lots of it is more like stone stairs. The view from the top is good, but you have to deal with a lot of people on the way up. Midday is better especially in summer.

If you want the most solitude, South Mountain Park is your place. On summer afternoons, there are hardly any people anywhere on the whole trail system. Western ridgeline trails are totally dead because they are harder to get to.

If you want a quick introduction to South Mountain Park, you can drive up to the top and try one of the trails up there (busier). Or try Mormon trail from the 24th St. trailhead (quick to the top and nice city views).

Part of the fun of taking pictures from different locations is the variety of perspectives. Plus the natural scenery and wildlife in our preserves is really something interesting, even if you weren't intending on taking pictures of it.

Thank you very much for sharing the specific information about those trails! I am not really familiar with any mountain/hiking trail, besides the small Papago Mountains, so the detailed information is definitely appreciated. I also wanted to specifically ask about South Mountain, as I've heard that there are areas with great views that can pretty much be driven to, with little-to-no hiking at all. And the picture that inspired me to finally post and ask about this was taken from somewhere on South Mountain. If you look in the Phoenix Area Forum, there's a post titles "Can you help me identify what I saw while up on South Mountain?" or something like that and the OP posted a panoramic picture that they took with their cell phone that is really cool-looking. So I was thinking that maybe there were views like that available in spots on South Mountain that can basically be driven straight up to?

[locolobo13]

Arizona Renegade's list are most of my favorites. I'll add one more. The Holbert Trail in South Mountain. You can climb right up to Dobbin's lookout. Of course you can just drive up there too.