Arizona Hiking (and a Museum)

Trail 304 (Phoenix)

Here is the City of Phoenix’s official information about this trail. Oh and on a trip down memory lane, I took a field trip in 4th grade to this trail where we looked at the dessert plants and drew pictures of them….aren’t you glad to know that!

Trail #304 – Nature Trail
Length: 1.52 miles
Elevation: 1,790 ft. – 1,610 ft.
Multi-use trail
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

The trailhead is located at the Apache picnic area at the end of the entrance road in Phoenix Mountains Park and Recreation Area. Paved parking, drinking water and restrooms are available.

The Nature and Freedom trails traverse together about 1/2 mile where the Nature Trail turns right with Trail #1A for a short distance and then turns sharply to the right just past the deep wash. The trail then ascends to a saddle where Trail #8 intersects the Nature Trail, goes down the hill and ends at the Apache picnic area just off from the trailhead.

Trail 300 (Phoenix)

I found my mom on my way down. Some kind stranger took our picture as I was clearly butchering my attempts at doing the picture taking with the phone stuck out in front of our faces. Thank you kind stranger. I felt like such a tourist…but I guess I am now. Weird…

Here is the official City of Phoenix information about this trail

Trail #300 – Summit Trail
Length: 1.2 miles
Elevation: 2,608 ft. – 1,400 ft. (hikers gain more than 1,200 feet in elevation on this trail)
Hiking trail only
Difficulty: Strenuous and Difficult
The trailhead is located in the parking lot at the first driveway on the left in Phoenix Mountains Park and Recreation Area. To reach the trail to the summit of Piestewa Peak, turn east on Squaw Peak Drive from Lincoln Drive between 22nd and 24th streets. Paved parking, drinking water and restrooms are available.

The trail to the summit of Piestewa Peak was first constructed by a wrangler employed at the Biltmore Hotel sometime around 1930. Now, it is one of the most heavily used trails in the nation with 4,000 to 10,000 hikers per week. The trail ascends Piestewa Peak to the highest point in the park. Dogs and bicycles are not permitted on the Summit Trail.

Trail 100 (Phoenix)

I don’t have any pictures from Trail 100, but I wanted to tell you about it. My cousin and I went running on this trail one morning. Or rather she tried to run and I kept getting side stitches and stomach cramps, which I never get, and I kept slowing us down. Anyway, Trail 100 is a fantastic trail if you want to go on a relatively flat hike, walk or run. My mom and I hiked this trail from start to finish back when I was a young adult and fresh out of college. It is about 11 miles from start to finish, but you can easily hike portions of the trail. Great trail!

 Trail #100 – Charles M. Christiansen Memorial Trail
Length: 10.7 miles
Elevation: 2,080 ft. – 1,290 ft.
Multi-use trail
Difficulty: Easy to moderate

Lamar Haines Memorial Wildlife Area (Flagstaff)

This land is owned by the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Here is their official information about this hike.

LAMAR HAINES MEMORIAL WILDLIFE AREA“Two springs run here.” Although it’s impossible to know for sure, that’s the popular interpretation of the cryptic pictographs painted on the cliffs above the source of Veit and Canadian Springs on the southwest slope of Flagstaff’s Agassiz Peak. The ancient artwork is just one of many interesting sights along this woodsy trail, which is why it buries the needle on the kid-pleasing scale. Allow time to explore the ruins of homesteader Ludwig Veit’s 1890s cabin, a historical marker commemorating the work of conservationist Lamar Haines and a concrete well and pond for collecting spring water along these 160 acres of wet meadows and old growth forest.Length: 1.6-mile loopRating: easyElevation: 8,600-8,800 feet Dog rating: •••   Kid rating: ••• Distance from Phoenix: 158 miles one way (roughly 2.5 hours)Getting there: From Flagstaff, go 7.5 miles north on US 180 to milepost 223, turn right onto Snowbowl Road and drive 4.5 miles to the Lamar Haines Memorial Wildlife Area trailhead on the right. Parking is very limited.

Hall of Flame Museum (Phoenix)

While in Phoenix, we also went to the Hall of Flame Museum. My mom had read that this museum was great for kids. It was a hot day, so something indoors sounded nice.

The Hall of Flame Museum is filled with fire trucks from 1725 to 1969. They have 1 truck that the kids are allowed to play on. In the back of the museum, they also have a fire safety house.

This is a really neat museum especially if you have a Fire Fighter or Fire Engine buff in your midst. We didn’t. We didn’t linger too long over any one truck. I let my kids set the pace as we looked at the fire engines. They thought some were neat and moved quickly in other areas.

Misc.

Hiking:
City of Phoenix Trails & Preserves Locations (Trail 304, 100 and Piestewa Peak Summit Trail)
Arizona Game and Fish Department (Information about Lamar Haines Memorial Wildlife Area)

Museum:
Hall of Flame Museum

Read other posts about our trip to Arizona:

Arizona Road Racers Summer Series 5k
An Arizona Wedding
2 Arizona Canyons (The Grand Canyon and Walnut Canyon)
Mashed Potato Doughnuts (Recipe)