"Hiked from the bottom at Holbert Trail to see the sunset at the top. It is very steep and rocky, like all trails in Phoenix. There are great views from the top, but there is a road to the top in case you don't want to go to the top via hiking. There are cool views and ruins from the top. When hiking down after sunset, it's kinda dangerous. Cool petroglyphs near the trailhead tho!" — lc444 • Dec 6, 2022

"This one was very steep on the last day in Phoenix. Nice way to end the trip. So started at 7 AM and summited at 8. The trail was overall rocky and has many steps. The signs were cool and the views were too. Then when we summited, we scrambled over to the higher summit on the side. The summit on the side had the summit benchmark. There was one scramble at the end near the summit." — lc444 • Dec 6, 2022

"We were supposed to do both Ridgeback Overlook and Apache Vista, but I missed the turn for the summit hike and it was getting warm and we wanted to head back and get breakfast anyway. Whoops~! So, so much for Apache Vista, but that's alright. It was a nice little exercise hike. Ken had his pack loaded up more than I did; I probably should have put more effort into practicing, but... oh well. A nice day and a nice light hike." — psychikingjes • Apr 16, 2022

"Today was my 14th birthday and my mother took me to climb a favorite peak of hers- Camelback Mountain which she claims she climbed thirty times. I also climbed Piestewa Peak too. They were very pretty dessert peaks and the Saguaros were very beautiful. " — DylanJDurand • Feb 27, 2022

"A very nice hike - weather was great! Parked at the North Mountain visitors center; the parking lot opens at 5 AM even though the visitors center itself does not open until 8 AM. I got there at about 7:45 AM and the parking lot was a little more than half full. It's pretty large; it's not one that only has 10-20 spots. I'd estimate at least 200 spots? Anyway, North Mountain and Shaw Butte are both clearly very popular hikes. North Mountain is paved road (and steep), and Shaw Butte follows a service road that's either crumbling pavement or steep rocky gravel. More evidence that all in all, the trails in Phoenix are relatively short and very steep. Tons of people with dogs on the trail, but all leashed (which was good!). Radio towers on top of all three peaks, but there's a way to get to the highest-ish point without trespassing for all of them. Not much to say - a beautiful day, the weather was gorgeous, and I felt perfectly fine hiking all of these alone. A nice big loop, about 7.5 miles out of it and 1700' total gain. No fees for parking, and the signs were pretty clear? There are more trails out there in the desert than are marked on the signs at the trailhead and on Natural Atla..." — psychikingjes • Feb 26, 2022