Lost Dog Wash Trail, Quartz Trail, Ringtail Trail and Old Jeep Trail

At the southern most tip of the McDowell Mountains in Scottsdale, but close to Fountain Hills, there are a network of trails that are within the Sonoran Preserve. They connect with the trails on the east side of the mountain via the Quartz trail. If you wanted to, you could hike all the way from the southern end to the northern end, however you would have to do it fast. The preserve is only open from sunrise to sunset and an overnight stay is prohibited. You could be fined if found after sunset or before sunrise.

I think most people (like me) will take a trail to get to another trail that they want to get to. A few trails do not have trailheads (Windgate, East End, Old Jeep) so you have to work your way in to get to those trails. Another reason would be the scenery. Quartz Knob is located on Quartz Trail, but the trail head (and much of the trail) is within a residential area. You may have different reasons to go on a hike, but most people go for the benefit of fitness as well as to get away from civilization. That is kind of hard to do when you are surrounded by cookie cutter houses.

Houses encroaching on the mountain.

The nice thing about the Lost Dog Wash trailhead is (though it is on the edge of a residential area) It is fairly pristine and secluded. The further you go in, the more natural your surroundings. The trailhead has more than adequate parking and has water fountains and restrooms. If you enjoy horseback riding, there is equestrian parking as well. There is also a small amphitheater for gatherings.

I have hiked from this point on two separate occasions. The first time I took the Lost Dog Wash trail to Quartz trail up to the Quartz Knob. As stated previously, this was to avoid walking through someones back yard. I don't want to feel like I was taking a stroll through the neighborhood. If I wanted that, I would stay home and walk through my own, but I digress.

The edge of the residential area on Quartz Trail.

The Trail winds through a valley and over a small pass before ending at the intersection of the Quartz Trail.  As you make your way deeper into the valley, the landscape becomes thick with Teddy Bear Cholla (Jumping Cactus). There are other types of trees and cacti as well (there is a lot of Saguaro and a barrel cactus or too), but it is almost like a Cholla forest.

Buckhorn Cholla, Beavertail Cactus among a field of Teddy Bear Cholla with a Saguaro in the background.

The Cholla Forest.

The Trail ends up going over a pass between to small peaks and at the highest point you will find the Taliesin Overlook. Their is a great view of Taliesin West, built by Frank Lloyd Wright, and North Scottsdale/Phoenix.

The trail continues north a ways before connecting with Quartz Trail. The trail changes direction, going into the mountain and up into Box Canyon. There is a trail that forks to the right and if you follow it you will reach Quartz Knob. This is a very large outcropping of quartz rock that can be seen from Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.

Quartz Knob.

View from Lost Dog Wash Lookout.

On a more recent occasion I went for a hike in the same area, only this time I took a section of Ringtail Trail. About .5-1 mile on Lost Dog Wash Trail, there is a fork to follow Ringtail Trail. It climbs steadily to a point where there is another lookout, Lost Dog Wash Lookout. They say this was an old Native American tool making site, but honestly I don't know how they can tell. All I could see was a lot of scattered rocks, but there was a nice view of the wash and Scottsdale and the Indian Reservation to the south.

Continuing on a few feet you come to a fork once again. To the north is the Old Jeep Trail. Take the trail south and it eventually connects with Sunrise Trail. I decided to take the Old Jeep Trail which on some maps is still marked as 128th Street. The trail loops around and meets up with Lost Dog Wash Trail. I took the trail south and followed it back to the trailhead.

Old Jeep Trail.

The trails at the southern end of the McDowell Mountains are great for hiking, biking and running. There is not much of an elevation gain and they are relatively easy (with the exception of Sunrise, which climbs to the top of Sunrise Peak). It is great that they have preserved this area and protected it from succumbing to the sprawl of the city. Now we can all enjoy the Sonoran Desert in its natural setting without disturbing or relocating its flora and fauna.

Reach 11 Recreation Area

When I was younger, I lived right at the foothills of South Mountain. Many times I walked to a trailhead or through a neighborhood wash to gain access to the park and hike one of the many trails. These days, I have been driving a short distance to local parks and preserves in the Scottsdale area that are not that far out of my way yet are not necessarily within walking distance either. However, there is a park of sorts near my house where I can go hiking.


It is called the Reach 11 Recreational Area (I don't know the meaning behind the name) and is pretty much in the middle of developed land on all sides. It stretches from Cave Creek Rd. on the west to Scottsdale Rd. to the east and is about a half a mile wide. It follows the Central Arizona Project Canal to the south with various signs of civilization to the north such as the Mayo Hospital on 56th St.

I live right off of 56th St. and Bell Rd. so I had to walk a little ways till I reached the pedestrian access point north of the canal. There is one on either side of 56th St. so I took the one on the west side of the street and set off toward Tatum Blvd.

The entrance to begin with is paved, in fact some of the trails are paved, but the ones I hiked on were not. I set out on the path that followed the south side of the area, closest to the canal. It is all natural  desert terrain which most people would think of as just rocks, sand and cacti, but it would surprise those people to see how beautiful and green the area is. I have stated this fact once before and I will once more; The Sonoran Desert is the least arid of all of the deserts in the world which contributes to the variety of flora and fauna that inhabit the area. It is a desert abundant with life, not like the Gobi or Sahara which is what most people probably think of when they imagine a desert.

As I walked through the Reach 11, I felt like I was walking through a forest. I was surrounded by Palo Verde, Hackberry and Mesquite trees (among others). There were Jackrabbits, Ground Squirrels and  running off of the paths so fast I barely had a chance to grab my camera to take a picture.

It is very easy to forget that you are close to civilization, but if you walk far enough, you will eventually get to the Tatum parking area. On the other side of Tatum is the Horse Lovers Park, an equestrian part of the Reach 11. Before I got to this point, I found myself on the Jackrabbit trail, just an offshoot of the main trail that connects you with the other side (E211N).

On my way back, I decided to check out the trail that runs between the E211N and the E211S, called the Javelina trail. This trail (I think) had more trees than the other trails. They seemed to meet in the middle, above the trail almost making a tunnel.

At the point where the trail starts going east, there is a small pond. I thought at first that it was a natural basin where all of the rain water collects or perhaps there was a natural spring, but as it turns out, there is a PVC pipe on one end that feeds water into it. Still, it is a nice area to maybe have a picnic or just stop and enjoy the scenery. There is a table and a garbage can if you wanted to sit and have lunch. However the Table is covered in graffiti and looked as if someone left their bag of bread (what was left of it), a little reminder of the fact that we were still in the middle of the city.

The Javelina Trail eventually led me back to the entrance at 56th St. At 11:00 am the heavy traffic reminded me that I was not in the middle of the desert wilderness the fact pulled me back into reality. I really enjoyed this (almost) untouched piece of desert land . It is not a difficult hike at all and is great for jogging, biking and horseback riding as well. I can't wait to bring my wife and daughter. I think they may enjoy it as well.

Bell Pass Trail in the McDowell Mountain Sonoran Preserve

Bell Pass as seen from the bottom of Bell Canyon.

It has been a long time since I have posted a blog and a while since I have gone on a hike. I have actually been on a few hikes since the last posted blog entry. School and work had to take priority to writing on this blog, so upcoming blogs will not be in chronological order, but are still worthy of a blog post.

Having said that, this past Thursday I decided that it had been long enough, so I made plans to hike up to Bell Pass. Bell Pass is in the McDowell Mountain range in Scottsdale, between Thompson Peak and McDowell Peak which shares a ridge with Drinkwater Peak. To get to the pass you have hike up through Bell Canyon from the Gateway Trail head which is located right off of Thompson Peak Road Just north of Bell Road in Scottsdale.

There is a lot of history in the McDowell Mountains and was considered sacred by the indigenous people (the Yavapai I believe) who lived in the area long before Europeans set foot in the Americas. there is evidence of this from the northern edge of the mountains all the way to the southern tip. Though I have yet to see this with my own eyes, there are Petroglyphs on the Toms Thumb trail and evidence of a tool making site on the Lost Dog Wash trail. Also, the land at the base of the Mountains was used for ranching by many early settlers looking to make a living and many tried mining the mountains as well.  On this hike there is said to be an old house (or the remnants of  one) off trail that one site said was probably used ranch hands and there family. It said that in early days ranchers would build houses like these out in the desert for their workers and the city would either look the other way or give notice to vacate and not follow through due to lack of resources or because they had other priorities. Sadly, the trail that leads there is closed and is clearly marked as such, so I did not venture out that way (off trail hiking in the preserve is strictly prohibited and there is a hefty fine for those who ignore such signs).

I set off on my hike at sunrise (the hours of operation for the park is sunrise to sunset) and started from the trail head toward the Gateway loop. This is a trail I have been on many times before because it connects with other trails. To get to the Bell Pass Trail, I took a right when I got to the loop and continued on until I had passed through openings in a couple of barbed wire fences and finally came to a trail marker that said "Bell Pass Trail" among other things. If you keep going on the loop you will get to the Gateway Saddle (which I haven't been to yet) and you eventually come back around to where you have started. I took a right onto the Bell Pass Trail that led into Bell Canyon.

The canyon and bajada below.

This was one huge rock at one point in time. wind and/or rain made it two.

Bell Canyon is Beautiful! It is like a funnel. When it rains, all of the rain water spills out of the canyon down to the desert below and provides water for the vegetation which makes for a very green landscape. The other thing I noticed is that it was very breezy in the canyon. Again, it is like a funnel directing all airflow through the canyon making it very cool. This also made the trees whistle and "WHOOSH" which I found very relaxing. There was also signs of hundreds (maybe more like thousands) of years of natural erosion in the canyon such as sharp outcropping of rocks in the sides of the mountains, a large boulder (that I have a picture of) that was literally split in two, and the bajada, which is a fancy word for a pile of rock and other sediment at the base of a canyon that collects in time and becomes home to desert plants and animals (the literal spanish translation is "bottom" or "base").

The switchbacks.

The hike through the canyon was not to hard. In fact, I thought to myself, "why is this hike listed as difficult"? I found out why when I got to the end of the canyon and the trail started to go UP. Even now, the day after the hike, my legs are still sore. The switch backs are not too tight and help the climb a little and the climb is relatively short. I had to take a few breaks here and there, but let me tell you, it was well worth it once I got to the top.

At the summit of Bell Pass you can see Scottsdale on one side and the north side of Fountain Hills on the other. The view of the Matazal Mountain Range was spectacular and I also saw the glimmer of light reflecting off of the Salt River or maybe one of its lakes in the distance. When I looked at my watch, I noticed it was 9:00 am and wondered why couldn't see the Fountain spraying water over 500 feet into the air as it does every hour. I figured out that it was because a mountain was blocking my view, so I had to come down the other side of the pass a ways (not to far) to catch a glimpse of the fountain. I have seen it many times before, but something about it fascinates me. Maybe it is more because it is a landmark more than anything else and it gives you a sense of direction in relation to all of the other landmarks, or maybe it is because I just think it looks cool.

The world famous fountain of Fountain Hills. Weavers Needle and the Superstition Mountains in the background.

It was only a big metal box.

Also on the pass, I found something that I had wondered about playing with Google Earth. While looking at satellite photos of the trail, I noticed a rectangular object just off to the side on the pass. I had tried to guess what it was and thought maybe at the least it was a tree trunk (that would have been a big Palo Verde) or the remains of a long dead Saguaro. Turns out, it was a large combo locked metal box. I guess that it contains tools (shovels, rakes, etc.) that the volunteers use to maintain the preserve so that both visitors and wildlife can enjoy it. There is another about halfway up the canyon also. I couldn't help but think, "that must have been a pain in the ass to haul up here!" even for the one only halfway up, but I suppose they may have helicoptered them in. The trails are not wide enough for any four-wheel type vehicles, that is for sure.

Since I was by myself and to park at the other end would have meant that I (or a companion) would have paid a fee to the McDowell Mountain Regional Park (which occupies the Fountain Hills side of the mountain), I had to turn back and go the way I came. Going down is hard on the knees (that's what she said) but was a lot faster than hiking up. What initially took me an two hours hiking up, took me just over an hour hiking down and out of the canyon. I met a lot of people hiking in as I was making my way out (slackers!) and came back to a pretty full parking lot.

Downtown Phoenix seen between Camelback Mountain and Mummy Mountain from Bell Pass.

This is a great hike for at least a moderately experienced hiker. This time of year you do not need as much water but it is a little hard on the legs. I saw a few mountain bikers as well. If you want to cover more ground and perhaps see the other side (like the windmill on the abandoned ranch) that would probably be the way to go. That or give yourself more time. I might just do that next time to see what I can see. That is why the Barrier went over the mountain, after all (chuckle).

The towers on Thompson Peak.

Four Peaks.

A dapper looking bearded fellow in a wide brimmed hat.

Camelback Mountain with North Scottsdale in the foreground.