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.