I had summitted Maricopa peak a number of years ago via the west side of the Alta trail. This time I approached the peak from the east end of the Alta trail. The only catch was that today was "Silent Sunday" and the section of the summit road was closed to all motor vehicles (which I totally support), so I had to park about a mile from the trailhead and take part of the Max Delta trail to the start of the Alta trail, which would get me close to the summit. Anyway.... The trail started off fairly shallow, but quickly hit a series of switchbacks that took you to the ridge. Spotted a couple of coyotes from a distance, which was cool. From there, the trail followed the contours of the range and came up onto the ridge again, where I left the Alta trail and followed a social trail to the left to take me to the peak. The main trail was really a nice, fun and scenic trail. It's away from the main section of South Mountain, so there wasn't many people on the trail. This has become my favorite trail in the park (so far). The social trail that leads to the summit quickly became rocky and the last 50 feet of elevation was pretty rocky and looked like it might have been a class 3 climb. I don't recall having to use my hands except at the last 10 feet or so. I had the entire summit to myself. My tracker showed a total cumulative elevation gain of about 1600 feet and the total mileage from the car was about 4.8 miles, one way. There was also a small glass mason jar at the top under some rocks with a summit log and a couple of pens. Signed the log, ate a banana and just enjoyed the views. I have to say the morning sun really lit up the Estrella mountains to the west. I headed back down the way I came. Total of about 9.6 miles round trip.