Phoenix is a great city to visit if you're interested in a vibrant food scene and all kinds of outdoor activities. In fact, you don't even need to leave the city for great walking opportunities along hidden canals with miles of scenic paths, brews, and bites. However, if you do decide to leave the city to experience Arizona's dusty desert, there's one mountain park that's the perfect choice for stunning trails and scenery — San Tan Mountain Regional Park.
Located in Queen Creek, Arizona around 50
minutes southwest of downtown Phoenix and its Sky Harbor International Airport, this park is pretty easy to get to for travelers staying in the city. Not just that, San Tan Mountain Regional Park is actually on the way from Phoenix to Saguaro National Park, a lesser-visited Arizona gem of desert scenery, making it a great place to stop and stretch your legs and whet your appetite for desert scenery before heading on to the gorgeous national park. The San Tan park contains nine different trails ranging in difficulty from easy to hard. It's also a famous birding destination, where you can spot species like quails, cactus wrens, screech owls, and black-throated sparrows. Besides birds, you may also see wildlife like cunning coyotes, elusive javelinas (small pig-like critters also known as peccaries), and poisonous Gila monsters along with desert plants like the tall, spiky saguaro cactus and the fragrant creosote bush.
Read more: The 5 Best Parks Where You Can See Bison Roam (Other Than Yellowstone), According To Visitors
Trails Of Varying Levels At San Tan Mountain Regional Park
If you're looking for a quick walk that isn't too strenuous, you can start with the short and sweet Moonlight Trail. The Moonlight Trail is a scenic and relatively easy hike that's one of the best in the park. This trail can also be made into a 2.2-mile loop by connecting it to the Stargazer Trail and San Tan Trail Loop, which are rated as easy and provide excellent views of the saguaro forests. After traversing the Moonlight and Stargazer Trails, you will follow a small section of the longer San Tan Trail back to the parking lot to complete the loop.
If you're looking for a slightly more challenging alternative, you could try the Dynamite Trail instead. In fact, the most popular route in the park is the Dynamite Trail combined with the Goldmine Trail to form a loop. This roughly 4.5-mile trail takes about an hour and a half to complete. The trail traverses the mountain ridges and provides panoramic views. However, some travelers warn that the up-and-down terrain is strenuous. One reviewer on AllTrails advised that all hikers should "bring 3 liters of water, electrolytes, and snacks!" In particular, the Goldmine Trail section is difficult due to its steep climb to the highest point in San Tan.
If you're not feeling up to a trail with these elevation changes, the San Tan Trail by itself is another good option for a longer hike. This trail is around 6.4 miles long and takes between two and three hours to complete depending on your hiking speed. It's a lovely trail that intersects with several other trails as it winds through a large portion of the park.
Planning Your Trip To San Tan Mountain Regional Park
San Tan Mountain Regional Park is open from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day of the week from May 1 to October 31, and from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday from November 1 to April 30. The park charges a vehicle entrance fee of $7 and has two entrances: a northern one and an eastern one. The northern entrance is the best place to access the Dynamite and Goldmine Trails. The eastern entrance also has parking and a nature center, where you can learn more about the ecology of the region. The nature center operates from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday from May 1 to October 31 and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day from November 1 to April 30.
Camping is not allowed inside the park, so if you're looking for a place to stay the night near Phoenix, your best bet would be somewhere in the suburbs of Gilbert or Mesa. Another option would be to continue on to Tucson, an hour-and-40-minute drive southeast. On your way there, be sure to check out this little-known city with one of Arizona's best main streets.
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Read the original article on Islands.
