Hikes in Phoenix

Camelback Mountain is Phoenix’s most dominant peak, begging to be climbed as it rises above the city, resembling a camel laying down. This approach to the mountain is a point-to-point route, but you can simply double the distance and climb it as an out and back if you don’t have a car shuttle. The beginning of your hike starts from the Echo Canyon Trailhead, following Echo Canyon Trail up the west side of the mountain, descending via Cholla Trail. You’ll have an incredible view of the city and the surrounding mountains since this is the tallest peak in the Phoenix area.

Camelback Mountain is not a beginner or kid-friendly hike. There are multiple rescues on this mountain every season and hikers have died from dehydration and accidents up here. If you’re a new hiker or you’re not used to hiking in desert conditions, save this one for the future.

Papago Park is a popular recreation area just minutes from downtown Phoenix, and the adjacent golf course is an equally popular spot for residents and snowbirds to get a round in. Papago Park was a reservation in past years, then a fish hatchery in the Great Depression, a prisoner of war camp in WWII, and a VA hospital. Talk about a storied past! Today, it offers hiking opportunities and access to the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Gardens.

The Papago Park Golf Course Loop circles the west end of the park and the golf course grounds. It’s a flat, relaxed route that makes for an ideal morning stroll or Sunday afternoon outing with family and friends, especially at sunrise.

North Mountain Trail leads you to the top of 628 m North Mountain in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve north of Phoenix. With the preserve stretching east and southeast, the views on this hike perfectly combine the city and the mountains. It’s a fantastic in-between hike that can challenge strong beginners but still satisfy stronger hikers, too. This isn’t a great pick for young families because of the light scrambling required, but it’s great for hikers who want to ease into using their hands on a low-consequence trail.

If you can time your summit for sunset, you’ll be awash in a golden glow. It’s an amazing experience! Parts of this trail are paved, but the paving comes after a rocky section, so we can’t consider this trail stroller or wheelchair-friendly. Bring water with you and try to hike before or after the heat of the day.

Piestewa Peak is the second-tallest mountain in Phoenix after Camelback. From the top of this peak, you’ll have a jaw-dropping, expansive view of the city below and the mountains that surround it. The Piestewa Peak and Freedom Loop takes you to the top and then around the trail that encircles the mountain, which tends to be a bit less busy and quite scenic. You’ll do best on this hike if you embrace a sense of community, since this is a very popular hike.

There’s some interesting history behind the name of this mountain; read on to learn. To prepare for this hike, get an early start, stay out of the heat, bring water, and leave dogs and children at home. Expect a tough but beautiful adventure.

Lookout Mountain is an isolated peak in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, located north of the city. The mountain offers an excellent view of the other peaks of the preserve, which are just south of it, and the city and its suburbs sprawling in all directions. The hike to the top of Lookout Mountain is a short one, but it’s no-nonsense, requiring a bit of light scrambling over rocky sections. It’s a good pick for beginners who want to try out a more adventurous trail that’s still forgiving.

This hike is dog-friendly, but it might be tough for pups to get all the way to the top on those rocky sections. Make sure you bring lots of water with you and plan your hike outside the heat of the day. Might we suggest sunrise or sunset?

The Hole in the Rock is one of the most popular hikes in Phoenix, especially for families. This route leads you up to a cave in a giant red rock, which looks like something out of an aquarium. The hole gives you a view of the beautiful golf course and botanical gardens below, but its uses by Native people were much more practical. The hike is easy and very short. If you can climb a few sets of stairs, you can likely make it up to the hole in the rock. Dogs on leash are welcome. Expect a busy trail.

This route is located in Papago Park, a popular recreation area just minutes from downtown Phoenix. Papago Park was a reservation in past years, then a fish hatchery in the Great Depression, a prisoner of war camp in WWII, and a VA hospital. Talk about a storied past! Today, it offers hiking opportunities and access to the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Piestewa Peak is the second-tallest mountain in Phoenix after Camelback Mountain. From the top of this peak, you’ll have a jaw-dropping, panoramic view of the city below and the mountains that surround it. This route guide follows the trail to the summit and then returns, but you can also add on the Freedom Loop if you want a longer adventure, which encircles the base of the mountain. You’ll do best on this hike if you embrace a sense of community, since this is a very popular hike.

There’s some interesting history behind the name of this mountain, which used to go by two different names. To prepare for this hike, get an early start, stay out of the heat, bring water, and leave dogs and children at home. Expect a tough but beautiful adventure.

Dobbins Lookout via Holbert Trail is a 6.4 km hike on South Mountain in the South Mountain Park in Phoenix. South Mountain is always a treat to hike in. While there are a bunch of different trails that start from the same area here, they all have unique, enjoyable views of their own. Dobbins Lookout gives you the perfect place to admire your birds-eye view of Phoenix from. There’s an old stone house up here that makes for an ideal shelter on a hot day and a neat place to pop into any time.

This hike is moderately difficult. It’s steep but not technical, and it’s a nice break from the many rocky trails in Phoenix. This route is a good pick for hikers who want to take on one of their first strenuous trails–it’s forgiving enough!

Acer Summit via Mormon Trail is a 3.9 km hike on South Mountain in the South Mountain Park in Phoenix. While there are several different trails that start from the same area here, they all have unique, enjoyable views of their own. Mormon Trail offers the chance to see petroglyphs, interesting rock slides, and a fairly easy trip up to Acer Summit, which has a wonderful view of the city sprawled below.

This hike is moderately difficult. It’s suitable for adventurous kids. While mountain bikes are technically allowed on the Mormon Trail, we don’t recommend attempting to bike this route because of how heavy the foot traffic is. This is a very busy hike!

The Circumference Trail to Ridgeline Loop is a 6.1 km hike in the Deem Hills Recreation Area in North Phoenix. Before mentioning the hike, this entire recreation area is an excellent spot to spend a nice afternoon. There is a playground, dog park, picnic areas, ramadas, and hiking trails to enjoy here. This hike is one that you can’t judge by the cover. It doesn’t look like it’ll be that impressive with its minimal elevation, but the view from the top is wonderful, especially at sunset.

This hike is suitable for most skill levels and ages. Be prepared for the heat and try to time your hike outside of the heat of the day. Finally, consider bringing a picnic to enjoy in the park after your hike.

The Aravaipa Canyon Trail is a 15.3 km hike in the Aravaipa Canyon Wilderness southeast of Phoenix, Arizona. This trail is special! It meanders through a beautiful canyon with dramatic walls, lots of wildlife, cacti, and occasionally lush trees all around you. You’ll need a permit for this trail, and even though the permits usually sell out, the trail often feels very solitary. You can camp along this route, too.

The hike is quite easy with little elevation gain, but the difficulty rating comes from the length and the number of creek crossings you’ll complete. You’ll want to be wearing shoes that can handle ankle-deep water throughout the hike. Expect moderate traffic and remember that dogs aren’t permitted on this hike.

The Brown's Ranch Perimeter Loop travels through the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, looping around Granite Mountain and Brown’s Mountain. This entire loop is 22.5 km, but the intricate network of trails in this area allows you easily lengthen or shorten your hike. Speaking of hiking, this route can be enjoyed by hikers, trail runners, and mountain bikers. Make sure you share the trail!

You can see Balanced Rock and the Amphitheater on this hike. The saguaros, the mountains, and the rock formations make for great scenery, and the trail’s packed sand/gravelly footing is easy to cruise over. The junctions you’ll encounter are not always signed and there are lots of them, so having a GPS track on hand will make your adventures a bit easier. Expect moderate mixed traffic.

The Upper Ranch and Brown's Ranch Road Trail travels through the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, looping around Brown’s Summit. This route can be enjoyed by hikers, trail runners, and mountain bikers since it’s not too rocky. It’s mostly flat but with some undulations to keep things interesting. Because of the mixed nature of the traffic on this route, make sure you share the trail!

The view of Cone Mountain is great on this route, and the obvious star of the show is Brown’s Summit. Since there are so many interconnecting trails in this preserve, it’s easy to lengthen or shorten your adventure as you please. The junctions you’ll encounter are not always signed and there are lots of them, so having a GPS track on hand will make your adventures a bit easier. Expect moderate mixed traffic.

The Hieroglyphic Trail is a 4.5 km hike at the base of Arizona’s Superstition Mountains that leads to the opening of a canyon decorated with petroglyphs. These images date back over 1,500 years when the Hohokam tribe lived here. Not only is the canyon base a living artifact, but your perch here gives you a stellar view of the Gold Canyon, Gila River Plain, and the upper peaks of the Superstition Mountains over 610 m above you.

This hike is moderately difficult and is suitable for most skill levels and ages. It requires very light scrambling to get into the canyon. Dogs are not permitted on this trail. Note that this hike gets very busy, so you’ll want to visit midweek or early in the morning if you’re able to.

Bluff Springs and Cave via Peralta Trail is an adventurous 8.5 km loop hike in the Superstition Wilderness near Phoenix. This hike is diverse, interesting, and rewarding. You’ll need to do some route-finding thanks to its lack of signage, but you’ll find a cave, fantastic desert mountain scenery, and a perfect view of Weavers Needle. It’s definitely worth the navigational work you might need to do.

We like this loop best going clockwise since there are boulders on the return trip that are easier to navigate this way. Kids should be able to complete this trail, but little ones might struggle with the light technicality of the trail. Bigger, adventurous kids have successfully done the hike. Get this one done before the heat of the day!

Canyon Lake Marina via Peralta Trail is a point-to-point hike that begins in the far southern reaches of Tonto National Forest northeast of Phoenix and ends at the welcoming blue lakeshore. This hike is too long to do as an out and back hike (unless you really want to punish your legs), so book a night at the Canyon Lake Campground near the end of the trail to make a weekend out of it.

This hike crosses rugged terrain that isn’t always very well-marked. Bring a GPS and prepare to be out in the desert sun all day with lots and lots of water, food, and sturdy boots.

Papago Park is a popular recreation area just minutes from downtown Phoenix. The park was a reservation in past years, then a fish hatchery in the Great Depression, a prisoner of war camp in WWII, and a VA hospital. Talk about a storied past! Today, it offers hiking opportunities and access to the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Gardens. One of the most popular hikes in the park is the Papago Park Butte Loop, sometimes called the Double Butte Loop.

The Papago Park Butte Loop wraps around two buttes, which look like something out of an aquarium with their Swiss cheese hotels and smooth exterior. This loop is easy enough for all skill levels and ages and can be shortened or extended.

Pinnacle Peak Trail might be a little bit of a misnomer, but bear with us. While this hike doesn’t actually reach the pinnacle of any peak, it gives you a great look at Pinnacle Peak and the peak next to it. For a pretty relaxed trail, there are some great mountain views to be discovered here. Being just south of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, you can see the mountains in the preserve from this trail, too.

This hike is suitable for most ages and skill levels. It’s a popular pick with trail runners and joggers and it can get busy. Try to visit in the middle of the week if at all possible.

Camelback Mountain is Phoenix’s most dominant peak, instantly recognizable on the city’s skyline, resembling a camel laying down. This guide leads you up Camelback Mountain on Echo Canyon Trail on an out and back approach, which is the most popular way to climb the mountain. The route is challenging and shouldn’t be underestimated, but from the top, you’ll have an incredible view of the city and the surrounding mountains since this is the tallest peak in the Phoenix area.

Camelback Mountain is not a beginner or kid-friendly hike. There are multiple rescues on this mountain every season and hikers have died from dehydration and accidents up here. If you’re a new hiker or you’re not used to hiking in desert conditions, save this one for the future. Should you want to hike the entire length of the mountain point-to-point, check out our Camelback Mountain via Echo Canyon Trail and Cholla Trail route guide.

Tom's Thumb Trail is a fabulous 6.4 km out and back hike in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. This route climbs up next to East End Peak to Tom’s Thumb, a viewpoint over the McDowell Mountains and the city of Phoenix. This spot is named for Tom Kreuser, the first member of the Arizona Mountain Club to climb it 45 years ago. The hike is hard, ascending over 396 m on the upward journey. While the trail isn’t all that technical, it’ll get your heart rate up!

Kids can complete this hike as long as they’re active and likely a bit older. Dogs are permitted as long as they’re kept on leash. There isn’t any water at the trailhead, so come prepared with all you’ll need (and you might need a lot!).