"I did a double-peak today in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve - two un-named peaks between Cave Creek Rd and SR-51. Started at first light and headed west on trail 100 for a couple miles. Right at the point where trail 100 drops down towards Cave Creek Rd, I veered right over a small pass and followed a social trail up to the top of the ridge that Peak 1871 is a part of. A small, faint trail follows the ridge to the top. There's a lot of rock hopping, but the rock was solid and easy to navigate - only one place I needed to use my hands. This was the most enjoyable part of the hike - great views, zero crowds and a lot of good, solid rock to climb around on. After spending some time on the peak, enjoying the view, drinking my coffee and contemplating life. I returned the way I came and headed back east on Trail 100. As I got closer to the "51". I thought I'd check out another peak, Peak 2016, on the way. I ultimately decided to tackle it because, hey, it's Civil Rights Day and I have a dream! The dream unfortunately did not include an easy climb to this peak. I followed a ridge from the saddle on trail 100 where there were faint traces of a social trail. The route, (I call ..." — brode-meisterbaker • Jan 19, 2026

"I did a double-peak today in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve - two un-named peaks between Cave Creek Rd and SR-51. Started at first light and headed west on trail 100 for a couple miles. Right at the point where trail 100 drops down towards Cave Creek Rd, I veered right over a small pass and followed a social trail up to the top of the ridge that Peak 1871 is a part of. A small, faint trail follows the ridge to the top. There's a lot of rock hopping, but the rock was solid and easy to navigate - only one place I needed to use my hands. This was the most enjoyable part of the hike - great views, zero crowds and a lot of good, solid rock to climb around on. After spending some time on the peak, enjoying the view, drinking my coffee and contemplating life. I returned the way I came and headed back east on Trail 100. As I got closer to the "51". I thought I'd check out another peak, Peak 2016, on the way. I ultimately decided to tackle it because, hey, it's Civil Rights Day and I have a dream! The dream unfortunately did not include an easy climb to this peak. I followed a ridge from the saddle on trail 100 where there were faint traces of a social trail. The route, (I call ..." — brode-meisterbaker • Jan 19, 2026

"First peak for me in the San Tan Regional park. Followed the Goldmine trail up towards the saddle between Peak 2377 and Goldmine peak. The trail was pretty flat and easy as I approached the ridge, at which point it climbed at a pretty good incline, nothing too difficult. There were a lot of people on the trail - mostly families out for a Saturday morning hike and trail runners. There were a number of "Area Closed" and "no Hikers" signs as I was coming up the trail, so I wasn't confident that I'd be able to hit the top without violating any posted signs. However, once I got to the top of the pass - west of the peak, I saw a social trail leading up and no posted signs! So up I went. The trail was very steep - had to use my hands a couple times. Although the trail wasn't listed as an official trail, it looked like it was somewhat maintained - there were areas of crushed rock that looked like it was put there to reduce erosion. Once at the top, I had fantastic views of all the peaks around me and the voices of all the hikers faded away to a faint murmur. So I had a period of peace and quiet and solitude. The hike back down to the Goldmine trail required some care due to th..." — brode-meisterbaker • Jan 3, 2026

"Quick up and back of a secondary peak to the Union Mine peak just north west of the intersection of Loop 101 and Cave Creek road in north Phoenix. Not much elevation gain, but an easy one to do to stretch my legs when out running errands. Started at a small parking lot on the east side and followed a pretty easy trail up the slope. Started raining when at the top which discouraged me from going to the top of the main Union Mine peak. " — brode-meisterbaker • Jan 1, 2026

"I was out running an errand and decided to hit a small, unnamed peak on the way home (I love Phoenix!). I parked at Buffalo Ridge park in north Phoenix around 4:30 and took off. There were hints of a small social trail heading to the peak, but mostly it was off-trail hiking and route finding. The peak was mostly a big pile of basalt and granite boulders with a lone saguaro at the top. I had to check my GPS several times to ensure I was heading to the right one, as this peak was part of a larger ridge and it was a bit difficult to tell which prominence was the actual peak. Once at the top, I could see down that there was a small network of trails and an interesting looking maze made of small rocks - Google maps lists this as the "Love Labyrinth". Calling the maze a "labyrinth" is a bit of an oversell, in my opinion, but it was still an interesting, unexpected sight on the hike." — brode-meisterbaker • Dec 30, 2025