Park is still amazing and has an uber fun golf course !! Overall it can get a bit busy but the park…read morereally tries to keep itself tidy !

I spent New Year's Day morning trying out this course on my way through Phoenix. It's an 18 or 27…read morebasket course, depending on how eager you are to trudge through dust and gravel. We had a hard time finding the practice basket but it's directly to the right of the first tee pad (behind the playground/picnic area if you're looking from the parking lot). The course itself was set with the best of intentions, using the hill to challenge us in throwing upwards/downwards and maintenance buildings as obstacles. The desert shrubbery, while not too much trouble to throw over or around, was similar across the entire course. It didn't make for a super exciting round until we hiked halfway up the hill around basket 10. When I was there, every single basket was set out, some with cones/flags for visibility and others just camouflaged into the landscape. It made figuring out the course a little difficult and we ended up playing into other people's baskets on accident not realizing we were aiming for the wrong ones. While the pads and baskets are well maintained, the map at the park is a little worse for wear and difficult to follow. The tee pads each have their own maps too, pointing to the next basket which was helpful. Lots of walkers and dogs going through the course, but just keep yelling fore and have a little patience! I liked the big field to practice throwing distance drivers without losing them on the course. I didn't like the amount of trash and cans/bottles littered around the course. But we encountered friendly folks and clean bathrooms, and it's a perfectly average course in the area.

This park has been in my backyard for 20 years. It's amazing to have seen it grow and thrive. For a…read moresmaller park it has some great space for toddlers and small children to play. Lots of space to run or workout for adults including a full size basketball court. Safe, clean and well maintained park. I love to sit at the bench to eat when the weather is nice. I often see people waking their dogs or getting some exercise around the park.

A very new park with A LOT to do for toddlers and older kids too…read more You can find some shade and spots to have a picnic as well. Great find!

Grew up here and always loved this park. Lots of grass and a playground. Looks like they installed…read morevolleyball net too

Quiet, clean great place to walk dogs, sit and enjoy the weather, exercise and walk. Very clean…read morewell kept. Grass was just cut this morning. Friendly people who are walking around the park. I'd recommend this location for dogs and relaxing. Today was a great day (good weather)

It was much cooler and somewhat humid after the rains. Most of the puddles were dried up despite a…read moregood rain. My hiking boots, water, shades and hat were ready to go as I met two others for a nice walk. The air was much cleaner and smelled wonderful. It was still cloudy which made for a good time out. Park in their lot.

Lovely park with loads of info about the flora and fauna of the Sonoran desert. It's in Cave Creek.read more

Love this trailhead by back gate of Scottsdale Mountain development. Never too crowded, you can…read moreeither head towards flatter part to Jeep trail or do little more elevation towards Sunrise Peak trail. No restrooms at this location.

Easy trail. Just above difficulty of walking on a sidewalk or in the park. It's flat and slightly…read morerocky on some parts but mostly level. Not very likely to roll and ankle or slip. But have to watch out for some cyclists as they barrel down the paths. Not a bad trail. A wash goes through the trail. Parts of the trail rims a neighborhood community. No shade on this trail so keep hydrated and bring sunblock. Okay views with somewhat elevated terrain to see skyline. Trails have signs well marked along the way. Pretty clean. Saw a few left-behind piles of dog feces on sides of trail but no trash For all age ranges from young to elderly. Has clean bathrooms. There are water amenities; fountains and bottle fill station. Info center with complimentary maps. Dog friendly. Has complimentary doggie doo bags. A doggie water fountain at the trailhead. There's an amphitheater near the trailhead. Plenty of paved parking at walking distance from entrance.

I came here on a Saturday morning to run, and I arrived at the parking lot at 10:15AM. Note that…read moresince this is inside Usery Mountain Regional Park, there's a $7 per motor vehicle. The parking lot was entirely full and street parking was pretty full too, but luckily I snagged a spot right at the trailhead as a car left. I went clockwise on the trail, and the map at the beginning says this trail is 7.5 miles (but actually if I add up the mileage on the map, it's 7.6 miles). The views before going down were good but once I went to the back of the mountain, the views weren't very good. Completely unshaded, most people are going counterclockwise so I ran into a lot of hikers, a few bikes, and even a horseback rider and his horse. Some parts of the path are a bit rockier than the others, but all manageable for running.

I spend much of my time on this trail running, especially if I want something that provides a lot…read moreof varied terrain and isn't too crowded. Wind Cave is an awesome workout, but it is typically a lot more crowded. A good portion of the trail is runnable, which is nice. For a moderate running pace, two hours should be fine. In talking to people on the trail, it seems that hikers typically plan 3.5-4 hours to do the whole thing. Maybe longer if you stop at the saddle to have a snack and enjoy the views for a bit. Speaking of that, there are several places to stop and enjoy the views, especially on the backside of the mountain, and it is really beautiful when the desert blooms. I was out here a few years ago when we got snow on January 1, and that was pretty cool to see. These days, I mostly see hikers, although there are some adventurous mountain bikers -- there is an interesting climb (or descent, depending on your chosen direction) just before/after the saddle. I've seen people carrying their bikes on that one. I think tackling this trail clockwise on a bike might be best, although I typically run it counterclockwise to get the rougher parts of the trail out of the way first. The trail is pretty rocky in spots between Blevins and the saddle. It is good to note that you can jump on this trail either from the Wind Cave or Blevins (Trailhead Staging Area) parking areas, but the marked trailhead is at the Blevins parking lot. There is nowhere to get water, except at the Wind Cave trailhead, which, depending on where you park, could be your start/end point. It is best to bring all that you'll need, especially in the summer. This is a loop trail, but there are really no shortcuts out of the trail, so you either plan to do the whole thing or pick a spot to turn around when you're halfway done with hiking. (The trail does connect to the Cat Peaks trail about a mile from the Blevins trailhead, and forks off to connect with the Arizona Trail, but once you're really into the trail, there are much fewer options.) As for shade, the only real shade is provided during certain parts of the year and times of day at the saddle. There are some trees and, if you can crouch in the shadow of some rock formations, you can find a little. Beyond that, it is pretty sparse. I suggest starting early in the morning. Keep an eye out for wildlife. I have scared several deer and jackrabbits in addition to the usual lizards, squirrels and occasional rattlesnake. There is a $6 fee to enter the park by car ($2 if you bike, walk, or run in) and the Maricopa County Parks pass is good here.

How can I not give 5 stars to a trailhead like this? I've only been a few times but my experiences…read morehave been positive. There seems to be a good amount of parking, but since I haven't driven and parked here, I can't comment much on that aspect. However, the bathrooms are great. There is one entry door with a water fountain and water fill up station inside, and a women's and men's restroom on the left and right, respectively. The bathrooms are in good condition though the women's didn't have soap this time - not a problem as I popped into the men's and washed up there. There are a few trails to choose from here and I hike to this trailhead from the Lost Dog trailhead, so it's a bit of a trek. I did the trail that goes to Sunrise Peak and finishes out on Andrew Kinsey. Didn't see too many folks which was good. Nice to have a well-maintained place to stop and take a quick break. Thanks, Fountain Hills!

Wow! There are so many trail options from this location. But whether you want a short hike or a…read morelong hike, you'll have beautiful views overlooking Fountain Hills. My parents took my husband and I here for a hike, and we were so impressed. After you've already done the major touristy hikes in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, I highly recommend coming out to Fountain Hills. The parking lot looked like it had space for about 30 cars, and there were bathrooms and a shade structure with benches for pre- and après hike. You also get to drive by an impressive Marriott hotel and many beautiful new Toll Brothers homes. Depending on the environmentalist views of your carmates, you might have to listen to a 10-minute lecture about how awful it is that folks are cutting into the mountain to make these homes. But... it's precisely the infrastructure for those homes that make it possible to create beautiful and useful trailheads like these. We loved that this trailhead was not very crowded.

Such a great experience at Brown's Ranch! The volunteers (specifically Mary!) were so sweet to my…read morefriends and I when we showed up late morning on a hot day for a hike. She immediately warned us of the heat and how easily and quickly heat exhaustion can hit. She recommended we do the quick .5 mile loop and then come back to see how we feel. We completed this in about 15 minutes but saw some gorgeous cacti, butterflies, lizards, and other desert critters! We let her know we were up for more so she gave us another path to take and told us a specific marker to turn around at. This one definitely upped our heart rate and was more challenging. I wish we came sooner so we could have completed it in full, but we were wiped by the end of it with the heat. There is a building at the front of the trailhead with bathrooms, maps, and some of the animals that live in this part of the dessert. It was very informative!

This is a beautiful trailhead // park that the City of Scottsdale takes great care of. My friend…read moreand I decided to take a bank holiday hike up here very last minute. I had never been to this trailhead in all my years of AZ living (a surprise!) and really enjoyed it. There is plenty of parking for cars, off-roads and trailers. You're bound to see humans and four-legged friends all over. The trailhead has a nice ramada with a small office for their volunteers, and public bathrooms. They also have a historical timeline of the area and lots of maps (both large and printed) to help figure out where you wanna go. We spoke for a minute with one of the volunteers to decide on a trail that wasn't too crazy - we just wanted to be outside, not do a lot of climbing and enjoy the scenery. We got all of that, and some, taking the ~4mile Latigo and Chuckwagon Loop. As my saying still goes, no bad day on the trails...