Camelback Mountain and Piestewa peak are some of the best hikes you can find near downtown Phoenix. Given their convenient locations in Scottsdale, its only a short drive for most and they offer beautiful views of the city. I will be ranking these three trails by the easiest trail, hardest trail, and the best view for the hike.
**I do have individual, in depth posts for each hike.
Camelback Mountain is one of the most popular hiking destinations in the Phoenix area given its challenging trails, beautiful views, and convenient location. It is home to two extremely challenging (double black diamond) trails: Echo Canyon Trail and Cholla Trail.
A less popular mountain just north of Camelback is Piestewa Peak. Piestewa Peak is also an extremely challenging (double black diamond), but in my opinion, is a bit more forgiving. Like Camelback, it also boasts nearly 1000 feet of elevation gain; a great workout for the day!
The Easiest Trail: Cholla Trail
If you are looking for an “easy” hike I recommend Cholla trail, but understand that it is not easy. The last 1/4 of Cholla Trail is arguably the most technical part of all three hikes. If you are not a strong hiker, you will likely not make it past here.
The reason I rank this as the easiest is because there is a beautiful view point 3/4 of the way up the mountain where someone not confident, or in good shape can easily get to it. The view, although not 360°, is still an amazing view of the city.
The Hardest Trail: Echo Canyon
Echo Canyon is easily the hardest hike of the three. It is a physically demanding hike from start to finish and has some crazy scrambling near the start. This hike has you saying “you got to be kidding me” numerous times given its many false summits.
The Best View for Hike: Piestewa Peak
Piestewa Peak is a challenging hike without all the scrambling. The elevation gain and view is similar to Camelback Mountain, but the hike holds less surprises. The hike consists of a lot of switchbacks and steps made from stone. Near the top, the steps become less frequent and it becomes a bit more technical, but nothing like Camelback Mountain.
←The summit (shown) is about 10 feet higher than the lookout, which is easier to access (not shown, on the right)
There is also this gorgeous lookout half way up the mountain that makes a great photo.
