Cool hidden spot that I've found many locals to not even know about! The Verde River winds through…read morethe Tonto National Forest, and a great hidden spot is between Bartlett Lake before the river makes its way down to joining the Salt River. It's called Needle Rock recreation area. You'll find off-road trails, some shade for picnics, and little areas to play in the water along the shore. Drive out to the end of Dynamite, where it becomes Rio Verde drive, and instead of heading to Fountain Hills, take a left into the beautiful Tonto National Forest. Be sure to stop and grab an $8 day pass at the entrance. If you're lucky, Dave will have his hot dog truck out at the entrance so you can grab a dog and some Huckleberry ice cream on your way down.

What a spectacular find! We drove back to this site after finding it on a map of trails. We had no…read moreidea we were going to find such a beautiful area to explore! There is a daily park fee of $12, which you pay at the park "box" located on the side of the road when you turn left off off of Dynamite Rd/Rio Verde Dr at Forest Rd. About .1 miles before you reach the park, it becomes a dirt road but it is compact so we had no trouble driving on it. There are trails that go beyond this park and they are very sandy so an ATV or truck would be better if you chose to venture farther down the route.

This is a great trail, it's about 60 minutes from Phoenix, the elevation change at the top makes…read morethis place about 20 - 30 degrees cooler than the valley, there are about two first come first served camp spots at the top. Once you park, there's a short 20 minute hike up to some radio towers with a wonderful view of the surrounding mountains and valleys. I've never camped here myself, but I usually see someone who drove in and is tent camping or camping out of a conversion van of some type. My most recent visit corresponded to a thunder storm in the valley, which meant it was a bit rainy on the hike up the trail. It's a relatively easy hike with some consistent elevation increase on the way up, you can do this hike in a pair of sneakers and a bottle of water. As far as the drive in, nothing too treacherous here, the road is passable by anything with four wheels and a driver with a bit of gumption. Four wheel drive and a high clearance vehicle is NOT required for this drive, but it certainly does make it easier to navigate. I definitely take air out of the tires for any dirt road and this is no exception; although, if you don't carry an air compressor in your vehicle, I'd suggest you don't let air out as there really isn't anywhere close by to put air back in. You can spend 5 minutes looking at the view or a couple hours. You can bring a picnic basket, your water bottle and a granola bar, or nothing at all - whatever you feel like on this excursion. It's a fairly easy destination and if you've been outside and walked more than a mile in one go within the past 6 months, this hike will be a piece of cake for you!

Quick escape from Phoenix! Temps drop about 20 degrees and nice gravel road will take you to the…read moretop (around 7000'). Epic camping and fires are allowed. Make sure you clean up your trash!

This is a beautiful trail with a lot of vegetation and scenic variety. We did the trail from the…read moreStrawberry side hiking towards Pine. Park in the lot just east of Ralls Dr on the south side of AZ-87 in Strawberry. The first 1.5 miles wander gently up and down through pine, juniper and manzanita forests with some of the largest junipers and manzanitas that I have seen. The first 1/4 mile is close to the highway, but after that the highway noise dies out. Views of the Rim to the east and also the town of Pine open up after a mile. At about 1.5 miles the vegetation changes to juniper and low growing manzanita with little shade; however in another half mile you come to a pine shaded area and a junction to trails that lead down into the town of Pine. On a weekday in May we only saw one other hiker!

It's a beautiful walk through the Rim Country with lots of wildlife and occasional views.read more

This trail was life-changingly beautiful! It's a great trail for the advanced side of beginner…read morehikers. I'd recommend going with a group as it is pretty isolated and we only passed two other groups within the three days we were there in the Springtime. We saw lots of amazing species like Gila monsters and road runners up close. The campgrounds were very primitive in a great way. Overall, if you're looking to backpack around Arizona, I'd recommend checking this trail out!

We love going to the superstition mountains. The scenery is gorgeous. Lots of different trails and…read morea lot of fun.

There are 2 extremes to this hike. You can choose to explore the lower canyon to a beautiful…read morewaterfall at the end surrounded by cliffs and call it a day for a total of 3 miles out and back OR you can hire a guide and canyoneer the upper canyon and spend around 5-7 hours while rappelling, climbing, and wading through endless pools and more waterfalls for a total of over 5 miles. On this adventure, my hiking group decided to take the easy route and enjoy the lower canyon. It kind of reminded me of West Fork hike in Sedona, because you cross the creek bed repeatedly, and you cannot help but stop and stare in awe of how beautiful the surroundings are. The hike is peaceful and you feel kid-like once more since you are forced to climb over small boulders, get knee deep or sometimes even waist deep in water, and brush past tree branches of various foliage. The life is teeming with so many different plant species present and with the Salt River connecting nearby, you just know the place is great for fishing as well. Permits are $15 per person for day hikes. Cibecue is on sacred land so remember to enjoy the hike in all its glory but be respectful and pack out everything you bring in.

One of my favorite hikes in AZ! How can you beat stunning canyon views, creek crossings, and a…read morebeautiful waterfall at the end!? Not to mention it's in the middle of nowhere away from all civilization--a great day trip getaway to relieve yourself after a stressful workweek! A few things to note before trekking out here: -You're going to want to be driving a 4x4 or high clearance vehicle as the road from the 60 turnoff is nothing but dirt and rocks. I've seen a Prius do it but it looked painful and damaging lol. -Permits are now $30 per person and you pay with cash into a box so come prepared. I'm not a huge fan of the price hike *no pun intended* but I can see why the reservation did it reduces the crowd. -Bring sturdy water shoes or prepare to get your hiking shoes wet/muddy. I have some pretty flimsy Walmart water shoes so I opted for the latter. There are multiple creek crossings and it's not like Seven Falls or Oak Creek--there are not enough stones to hop across and you will need to walk in the water.By the end of the day, my hiking shoes were completely soaked with muddy water. They will need some deep cleaning. -Piggy-backing off the point above, if you go following a monsoon storm, expect the creek and falls to be saturated with thick mud. Grand Falls style. -PLEASE pack in what you pack out. Do not litter or leave anything behind in this beautiful place.

When I am looking for a place to run my motorcycle to, Bartlett lake is always front of the list in…read moremy mind. With nicely maintained roads running out of Cave Creek to the lake it's always a pleasant ride. There is a cafe there if you want to have lunch, which overlooks the lake as well. Every time I am there it makes me want to get a houseboat and ditch city life. One of these days maybe.

We decided to drive over to check out the nearby Horseshoe Dam in hopes to catch the spillway…read morerelease and the waterfall it creates into the Verde River and then head over to Bartlett Lake to see the start of the wildflower blooms. Totally worth seeing both when in the area. The drive was beautiful. Water levels are a bit low, but still amazing. The flowers are already in bloom, but will be even better by end of February into March if you'd love to see them. I love poppies but there are so many more flowers also in bloom, to see the best area I'd recommend the area just before Rattlesnake Cove . There is a small trail with roadside parking if lucky. Or can park in the cove parking and small hike back up to area. You do need to pay for a rec pass if parking and spending the day. You can purchase at stores nearby or roadside spots you'll see along the way. Traffic wasn't too bad today but as it warms up and flowers more in bloom be prepared. There is also a restaurant near the boat dock as well.

I had heard good things about this trail and it has a cool name, so I decided to check it out one…read moremorning. I didn't want to pay for parking so I started at a different trailhead and hiked a few kilometers to get to the beginning of this trail. I saw a good amount of people along the way, but not too many. They were all courteous and respectful of the trail and its rules. There are lots of switchbacks and some decent elevation, I'd classify it as a moderate hike. The top with the "cave" was nice, more like an indentation, and I saw 2 chipmunks. I guess I didn't make it all the way to the top according to my map, but close enough. I went back down the trail and continued on my loop back to the parking lot I came from. There isn't much cover from the sun so be sure to dress appropriately, wear sunscreen, a hat, drink water, etc. I'm glad I got to do this trail.

This was a good workout and moderately challenging trail. We got started a bit too late so it was…read more"hot" on the trail. I'm glad I was wearing a hat, sunscreen, and had plenty of water. The weather was nice today, it's just a lot of sun exposure on the trail. I saw people of all ages on the trail and dogs are allowed. Personally it was a bit busy on the trail for my liking and I don't love paying $7 to access a trail but we were hiking with a friend who is new to the area and thought this is a nice intro to AZ hiking. There are plenty of other trails in the Usery Mountain Regional Park to check out as well, but we were ready to head out after this trail. Wind cave trail is 3.2 miles out and back, it's about 1,000ft elevation gain and on average takes about 2 hrs to complete. One interesting thing we found at the "cave" area at the top was large honey comb coming out of the rock. There are quite a few bees there and man I would have loved to eat that honey comb haha. That added an element of interest. Overall, nice hike and a good mix of effort. I would have liked to do it earlier in the day, but I'm sure it was even busier then so it worked out.

Loved this 8 miles round trip trail…read more Easy access by a regular car to the parking. Be sure to arrive early as a parking is limited. We arrived around 7am and it was about a half full. When we were ready to go home around noon, this place was packed. Most part of the trail has tree shades, with nice water sound, I felt pretty cool in the hot summer. Trail is mostly flat. Less than 1,000 feet in elevation gain. Trail has access to the creek throughout, you don't have to hike all 4 miles to enjoy cool water. Bring lots of water. I carried almost a gallon of water with me and I think I consumed 2/3 of them. I saw a camper hiking down in the morning. They said they packed everything including water and spent a night in the woods. That sounded really intriguing, I think I should really thinking about camping here someday.

I have been hiking here for 30 years. It's a great place however as the population grows here the…read moretrail is also packed all the time now. Try to go off season (fall I think is best) to have the best experience. If you have kids, they will love to play in the creek in the hot weather.

Challenging short hike with awesome views from Indian ruins. If you don't like to fall down, be…read morescared or get cut up when hiking, don't do this hike. The big challenge is getting here. High creek levels can ruin your trip. I went in November with my 4runner without issue. Also, the last mile or so of road is extremely rough. I would just park and walk if without a high clearance vehicle.

This phenomenal hike is so steep, even I thought it was difficult. what a great state for outdoor…read moreadventure where you can be driving on dusty desert roads one minute and suddenly park in a forested canyon, and start hiking up giant boulders to see a hidden indian ruin? this site is extremely well preserved and thank goodness, hard to find. only a few marks of graffiti (a shame really, who the hell thinks it's ok to scratch their name in 750 year old artifacts? a**holes). if you're lucky enough to hike there with someone who knows the trail, tread lightly and enjoy it. if you do, it will still be there for multitudes of future nature lovers to enjoy.