Distance

4.5 mi to summit

7.2 mi total

Elevation

1,435 ft start

2,115 ft max

Vertical

1,434 ft gain

Time

2 hr 10 min to summit

2 hr 58 min total

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 Atlas. It wasn't hard to navigate, though.

Route name

Shaw Butte 7.2 mi route

loop
Obstacles

routefinding

Key gear

GPS device

Other peaks climbed on this trip