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View Poll Results: Best Valley of the Sun mountain range?
Phoenix Mountains 4 14.29%
McDowell Mountains 3 10.71%
Sierra Estrellas 1 3.57%
White Tanks 2 7.14%
South Mountains 0 0%
Mazatzal Mountains 4 14.29%
New River Mountains 0 0%
Superstition Mountains 11 39.29%
Hieroglyphic Mountains 1 3.57%
Union Hills 2 7.14%
Voters: 28. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 10-18-2021, 10:07 PM
 
Location: Earth
991 posts, read 544,218 times
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Four Peaks/Mazatzals is the only real mountain range in the Phoenix area IMO and you can really only see those from Mesa. Prominence is about 6k feet from downtown Phoenix and it is the only range that gets snow each year. The rest are to small to be considered mountain ranges IMO.
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Old 10-19-2021, 05:43 AM
 
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Originally Posted by Ponderosa View Post
The Estrellas are straight up rock climbing in places. But the front side where the county park is has numerous trails that are very easy with nice city views. Horses are available in winter too.
That part of the range is about the most boring hiking trails in town. Used to live down the street and train on those trails a few times a week. The actual Estrella range that overshadows the west side of town is a two hour hike in from the edge of the park boundary from the north or very sketchy 4x4 roads from the west. For a mountain range that large and next to a major metropolitan area, it's one of the toughest places in the state to access.
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Old 10-19-2021, 05:53 AM
 
9,744 posts, read 11,167,720 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CCS414 View Post
Four Peaks/Mazatzals is the only real mountain range in the Phoenix area IMO and you can really only see those from Mesa. Prominence is about 6k feet from downtown Phoenix and it is the only range that gets snow each year. The rest are to small to be considered mountain ranges IMO.
You can easily see it up and down the far East side of town. Yes, Mesa qualifies as well as several other spots. I see stunning views from our hood including Four Peaks. And you are right, when they are snow-covered, the views are even more spectacular.
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Old 10-19-2021, 05:53 AM
 
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What about Thunderbird Mountain? Which chain is that? I just saw photos a friend took and it looked beautiful. I know it's in Glendale, but I don't know anything else about it. If I move to Phoenix as planned next year, I'll definitely be hiking there some of the time.
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Old 10-19-2021, 05:55 AM
 
342 posts, read 320,412 times
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Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised View Post
You can easily see it up and down the far East side of town. Yes, Mesa qualifies as well as several other spots. I see stunning views from our hood including Four Peaks. And you are right, when they are snow-covered, the views are even more spectacular.
Okay, I need to know where exactly to move to get views like this. We LOVE the mountains and were previously planning to move to Colorado or Tucson so that we could get mountain views, but now our jobs dictate Phoenix as the better option.
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Old 10-19-2021, 07:26 AM
 
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Originally Posted by scully2010 View Post
What about Thunderbird Mountain? Which chain is that? I just saw photos a friend took and it looked beautiful. I know it's in Glendale, but I don't know anything else about it. If I move to Phoenix as planned next year, I'll definitely be hiking there some of the time.
The Thunderbird Mountains are a very small and frankly unattractive range off of 59th Ave and Pinnacle Peak. If you live in the area, they are worth going over to train on before or after work, but I wouldn't drive more than 20 minutes out of my way to go there.

I've hiked, gone trail running or bushwhacking on every mountain range in the poll. For in-town hikes the best are South Mountain, Phoenix Mountains and Camelback. On the weekends and you want to drive 45-60 minutes it's the Superstitions, The Mazatals and then the White Tanks.
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Old 10-19-2021, 08:18 PM
 
Location: Earth
991 posts, read 544,218 times
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Originally Posted by scully2010 View Post
Okay, I need to know where exactly to move to get views like this. We LOVE the mountains and were previously planning to move to Colorado or Tucson so that we could get mountain views, but now our jobs dictate Phoenix as the better option.
Tucson would defintely be better for mountain views. I think the Catalinas are around 9k feet. The best views of the Mazatals come from Fountain Hills and northern Mesa. Thompson Peak will block your views from Scottsdale and North Phoenix.
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Old 10-23-2021, 03:52 PM
 
Location: PHX -> ATL
6,311 posts, read 6,820,931 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CCS414 View Post
Four Peaks/Mazatzals is the only real mountain range in the Phoenix area IMO and you can really only see those from Mesa. Prominence is about 6k feet from downtown Phoenix and it is the only range that gets snow each year. The rest are to small to be considered mountain ranges IMO.

This is not true at all. There are other mountains here. And the other mountains do get snow from time to time. Not uncommon to see the Superstitions with snow in the winter. the McDowells get snow too, but less often.


You can also see Four Peaks as far as Downtown Phoenix and even Tolleson. You can also see Four Peaks as far as Picacho, AZ.
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Old 10-23-2021, 03:59 PM
 
Location: PHX -> ATL
6,311 posts, read 6,820,931 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scully2010 View Post
What about Thunderbird Mountain? Which chain is that? I just saw photos a friend took and it looked beautiful. I know it's in Glendale, but I don't know anything else about it. If I move to Phoenix as planned next year, I'll definitely be hiking there some of the time.

It technically qualifies under the "Union Hills" which was the only name reference I can find for that collection of mountains before the Hieroglyphics around Lake Pleasant.
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Old 02-21-2022, 05:21 PM
 
Location: AZ
17 posts, read 14,351 times
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When we lived in the East Valley, our favorite was the San Tans (San Tan Mountain). Really nice ample parking, friendly people, nice trails to run, walk or cycle. We had a season pass. Small education room, bathroom facilities too are always a plus.
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