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2018 WILL BE AN EPIC YEAR FOR THE MARICOPA TRAIL Rick Kesselman of the Maricopa Trail + Park Foundation Maintaining and advocating for the Maricopa Trail is a labor of love for Rick Kesselman, Trail Director and segment steward of the Maricopa Trail+ Park Foundation (MTPF). The 300+-mile trail that circles the Valley is a work-in-progress and amazingly, many Arizonans are unaware of this remarkable route and the efforts behind its creation and its exciting future. New sign installed along the race route on 12-23-17. I caught up with Rick and a troop of volunteers on a crisp December morning as they were preparing a section of the trail that runs between Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area and Lake Pleasant Regional Park for the 2018 Prickly Pedal mountain bike race. This roughly 40-mile mountainous section of the trail is one of the most technically challenging and visually appealing for hikers, bikers and equestrians alike making is the perfect stretch to host the fund-raising eve...

HOLBERT TRAIL,  South Mountain Park, Phoenix Dobbins Lookout On clear evenings, the beacons on Mount Suppoa that bleep and flinch above an array of communication equipment are visible from many parts of the Valley.   The spindly forest of red-lighted poles marks the highest point in South Mountain Park.   The 2690-foot summit is off limits to the public but equally swell sights can be had at nearby 2330-foot Dobbins Lookout. Hikers on the Holbert Trail Dobbins Lookout You could drive up to this Depression Era observation deck, but for those who prefer to sweat for it, the Holbert Trail provides a moderately difficult slog and rewarding discoveries all the way up.   The hike is as much a trek through history as it is a respectable workout.   The trail winds up the north face of the Guadalupe Mountain Range---one of the three elongated ridges that make up South Mountain. The others are the Gila and Ma Ha Tauk ranges.   The first history lesson comes within a ...

DINOSAUR WASH A slot canyon in Dinosaur Wash If you stay alert on this hike, it�s easy to spot the Stegosaurus.   But you�ll have to navigate a convoluted trail system to get to it; and that�s not so easy. The  Stegosaurus -shaped rock outcropping looms above Dinosaur Wash with its head twisted back over a scaled spine frozen in a posture that looks like the losing side of a Jurassic joust.   This signature basaltic formation is the only �dinosaur� you�ll see while trudging through the eponymous wash that�s a part of the Sophie�s Flat Trail system north of Wickenburg.   What you will see though, is a mix of spectacular desert vistas, hardscrabble gullies, volcanic peaks and a matrix of sandy washes.   Dinosaur Wash Although it�s just a few miles north of town, the trail system has a pure wild west, middle-of-nowhere feel. The looped trails are blandly named A,B,C,D and E, but they�re anything but boring.   The core A Trail begins at the Sophie�s Flat trailh...

SUBMARINE ROCK TRAIL Hog Wash Trail Hikers of a certain age will remember the 1960s TV submarine series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea . Each week kids across the nation could vicariously board the Seaview with Admiral Nelson for a new nail-biting peril, a new monster and an old predictable plot as seen through the sub�s massive control room windows. Broken Arrow Trail For me, the wonder of it all lasted up until a class trip to a naval base in Groton, CT where I got to walk through the tin-can corridor of a real-life docked sub. We kids lurched single file past walls of gauges, dials and buttons in sync with a baseline of parental �don�t touch, stay back, keep quiet�. But, unlike on the Seaview , there were no windows-- which dashed my hopes of a beastly freak festival. For those of us who had toed the line, the tour culminated with a consolation prize: a trip to a local ice cream parlor. It wasn�t exactly the one-eyed squid from outer space finale I had hoped for, but the tour fuel...

About that tree� It�s that time of year again when holidays collide, traffic turns toxic and tempers grow short.   With all the pressures, all we hikers want to do is escape to the trails to shake it all off.   Ironically, one of the most popular trails in the Phoenix area---one that�s supposed to help us unwind---often ends up adding to our seasonal distress.   I�m referring to the annual drama surrounding the Camelback Mountain Christmas Tree.   Regardless of whether the City of Phoenix decides to allow or prohibit the tinsel stick on the mountaintop---somebody will drag one up there anyway.   For the record, I am personally against this practice. Call me Scrooge, but the tree just doesn�t belong there. It�s a buzz kill on a desert mountain peak that creates litter and safety hazards. Still, every year we can expect the controversy to make headline news and cause more heartburn than it�s worth.   Within the Arizona Hiking Group Facebook page (20,000+ memb...

Wild Horse-Maricopa Trail Usery Mountains Segment Cholla cacti are abundant along the Wild Horse Trail The Salt River Recreation Area north of Mesa is a well-known destination for kayaking, tubing, fishing and picnicking. Although there are also some hiking trails near the water, riverside commotion, noisy crowds, entry fees and mounds of trash left behind by careless day trippers are buzz kills for trekkers in search of beauty and solitude. However, a nearby system of trails that overlooks the area offers peaceful wandering.   Four Peaks as seen from the trail. The Sonoran Desert (Hawes) Trail System in Tonto National Forest has more than 20 miles of interconnected paths located between Usery Pass Road and Bush Highway just south of the popular recreation area.   The northern-most route in the system is the Wild Horse Trail which is also part of the Valley-circumnavigating Maricopa Trail. As its name suggests, the trail passes through the domain of wild horses.   Saguaro...