"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

"This trail was very wide and fun to run all the way down with trail running shoes, a bit gravely in a few spots but not bad. Seemed like a great place for a bike ride. It was 100 deg so getting hot for hiking. Bring your sunblock and water. The view from the top was just so so. " — nikkirogers • Apr 26, 2020

"Drove to AZ from Vegas to watch a Dodgers Spring Training game (they lost). We got there early enough for a quick hike, so Dylan & I hiked to Shaw Butte & Shaw Butte Radio Tower. Fun day!" — Kevin • Mar 17, 2019

"After dong North Mt. I summited Shaw Butte. I elected to climb off trail to the actual summit, following somewhat of a use trail. I was greeted with cigarette smoke at the summit (go find another place to smoke people) and came down the opposite direction." — ZachTeich • Mar 15, 2017

"Headed south from the North Mountain Visitor Center down Trail 100 for a couple miles to the intersection of trail 306 on the right. Over a saddle and then back up to a ridge, where the trail just seems to keep going up. Finally, it levels out and contours the west side of the peak until you hit the last big "up" along the north side of the peak. You can take this poorly maintained asphalt road to the top, or take the "real trail" that peels off the road to the right and takes you right up. Much more rocky and steep, it's definitely more interesting, IMO. Came back down the way I came up." — lawrencebaker • Sep 8, 2016