"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

"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

"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

"Came up from Alta past San Juan Lookout and then took the spur trail to the summit. Beautiful day, but if you miss the spur trail, you'll add a good 1/2 mile before you realize you missed it. The spur is at the saddle and there is a signpost with a phoenix park QR code on it. Thats what you are looking for. " — puddlepirate • Feb 16, 2022

"In a way, it felt like the most difficult part of this peak was finding the place to park! It's parallel parking on the street in a neighborhood; thankfully there were not many people there when we arrived. I can see how neighbors could get irritated quickly. (It's a common issue in Phoenix, I'm finding.) There were lots of "extra" trails cross-crossing the area; in the end, though, you go up, and then you come back down. We elected to make a loop out of it because of a family with small children who started the (pretty steep) descent not long after we got to the peak. The route is decent trail for the most part - just steep. I'm finding that most of these Phoenix city park trails are two things: short and STEEP. It becomes more rocky/light class 2 for the last 50ish feet to the summit. Pretty day, very warm for February. I had just ran a 5K down at Tempe town lake and was in the area, so wanted to knock this and Lookout Mountain off my list. " — psychikingjes • Feb 13, 2022