Best East Valley Hike 2009 | Pass Mountain Trail | Arts & Entertainment | Phoenix
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Best East Valley Hike

Pass Mountain Trail

Like some of the exceptional backcountry hikes at the Phoenix Mountains Preserve that are eclipsed by the gravitational pull of Piestewa Peak, this phenomenal hike is often lost in the glare of Usery's popular Wind Cave Trail. But you don't always have to go up to get to the top; sometimes, as with Pass Mountain, you can go around.

The 7.4-mile loop offers a circumnavigation of its namesake peak — the one with the distinctive scar that's visible from almost anywhere in the Valley — as well as lush Sonoran flora, dazzling views of Four Peaks and the Superstitions, and a saddle link-up with the Goldfield Mountains. If you're up to it, you can freelance into the Goldfields before closing the loop on Pass Mountain.

Best Guided Hike

Elephant Mountain Fortress Hike

True hikers view guided hikes as literate Parisians view ushered tours of the Louvre: dimly.

This excellent seven-miler is the exception. A relatively difficult trek over primitive trails, the ranger-led hybrid hike takes participants into the park's achingly beautiful backcountry for sublime views and solid interpretation. The ranger du jour will fill you in on the newest, and most unusual, entry in the Maricopa County Regional Park system, which is set in a high-desert riparian area dotted with numerous archaeological sites.

The hike is scheduled regularly. See the Web site for more info.

Best Hike for Speed Freaks

San Tan Trail

Despite the word "Mountain" in its name, this park is located in the eastern molehills of the San Tans, with the 3,054-foot namesake peak looming far off in the westerly distance.

Translation: It's flat and it's fast.

There are some mild ups available, but most of the park's trail system, and especially the centerpiece San Tan Trail, cuts through hard-pan lower Sonoran Desert. Hikers accustomed to the topographical arrhythmia of South Mountain, Camelback, and the Phoenix Mountains Preserve, or even other regional parks such as Estrella and Usery, will be amazed at the dirt-churning pace of the place. We conquered the 5.7-mile San Tan loop in just under two hours, without sacrificing any views or even breaking a sweat.

Best 10-Mile Hike

Black Mesa Loop, Superstition Mountains

There aren't a lot of cities in this country where you can throw off your business-casual garb after your workday, zip onto a freeway, and be knee-deep in miles of wild desert. If you're into hiking, Phoenix totally rocks. And when you can really take your time with an all-day hike, we recommend you ditch your weekday trail and head to the outskirts for some of the most breathtaking beauty you can imagine. The Black Mesa Loop in the Superstition Mountains is an absolute must. Be sure to do it in the cool month of February. That is your best chance to catch the trail when it's at its most stunning, with rushing, rocky streams and a healthy green desert. The trail features awesome views of Four Peaks, Weaver's Needle rock formation, a cholla forest, Boulder Canyon, and dramatic rock cliffs. So fill that CamelBak bladder on your day off and get going, because you'll need the entire day.

Best Place to Encounter Tenderfeet

The Big Buttes at Papago Park

For a hiker, it seems counterintuitive that going up should be easier than getting down. Down is good. Down is always better.

Well, not at the Big Buttes, humongous sandcastles of petrified mud that must look tame, even comic, to someone from Indiana who's in town for Cactus League.

Here's how the scenario invariably unfolds: Dad and two kids — it's always a dad and two kids — toodle by the Buttes in their rental and decide to have a spontaneous encounter with the Wild West. Dad rings mom at the resort. Hi, honey. We're gonna climb one of these cute rocky things. Should be back in 20. Twenty minutes later, you've got a dad and two kids from Muncie frantically clinging to a badass butte.

In defense of tenderfeet, these mountainous molehills can be deceiving, even deadly, with their slick-rock downs. Ups are a breeze, even for people in shopping-mall sneakers — and especially for kids, who bound up the rock faces like fresh-fed goats. Inevitably, Dad's forced to bound to their rescue, and the trap is sprung. You can almost hear the buttes chortling: Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha.

To date, we've herded two clans of chastened climbers down these building-size boulders — and no thanks required. Just do us a favor. If one of you Indy types sees a poor stranger gazing fretfully at a map of Muncie, show some compassion. We desert dwellers are nothing without our mountains to guide us.

Best Night Hike

Desert Botanical Garden

There's something magical about the desert at night. Everything looks, sounds, and smells different. And in the hot summer months, it's a great time to go and experience what desert plants and critters are up to after the sun sets. But if the idea of a nighttime desert exploration has you feeling a bit uneasy (ever seen the 1972 made-for-TV movie Gargoyles? — we're terrified just thinking about it), then the Desert Botanical Garden is the perfect place to discover all the alien-free wonders the desert has to offer, like night-blooming cereus and owls in action. The garden is open late year-round, with extended hours for their summertime flashlight tours (June through August), perfect for the whole family.

Best Place to Go After Hiking South Mountain

Los Dos Molinos

Lauren Saria

As with so many things, proximity's often a key for hikers looking to arrange a post-trek meet-up. For most, a redneck bar or a convenience store'll do the trick if it's the nearest place to score a frosty brew.

So while it doesn't hurt that this historic New Mexican-style restaurant is the closest dining-and-drinking establishment to the South Mountain Park exit, we'd slog through several miles more of hell and jumping cholla cactus to score one of the restaurant's "Kick-@ss" Margaritas and a plate of green chili enchiladas.

In fact, hiking, shmiking. Let's get right to those maggies.

Best Place to Go After Hiking Camelback

The Vig

We have a love/hate relationship with Camelback Mountain. There's no better view of home than from the top, and no greater sense of accomplishment than getting there. Yet we loathe the getting-there part — the Camelneck, the Backbone, the etiquette-challenged hikers. Ugh.

But when it comes to The Vig, we're feeling only the love. This chic tavern on the fringe of Arcadia is absolutely perfect for a post-Camelback repast. Prime location, great ambiance, crankin' sound system, bocce ball on an awesome patio, and terrific appetizers (try the Hot Vings, five-spice edamame, or sweet potato fries).

After a snack like that — and a cocktail or two — you'll be planning your next hike to burn it all off.

Best Place to Go After Hiking Piestewa Peak

Aunt Chilada's

Diana Martinez

The Dreamy Draw is a lovely place, but it's not named for its oasis-like beauty. It earned the designation back in Phoenix's Territorial days, when workers from the Rio Mercury Mine near Squaw Peak would wander the area in a daze, high on mercury fumes, after their shifts.

You'll see that same thousand-yard stare on dust-covered folks who wander into this storied restaurant/watering hole on the Draw, but today's victims are just a little pooped out from hiking the Peak, which is now, of course, called Piestewa.

And there's nothing like two or three original hand-tossed margaritas and some fresh fish tacos on the foliage-choked patio at Aunt Chilada's (which sits on the original site of the general store that served the Rio Mine) to snap a poor hiker back to reality.

Those who trek on weekend mornings can look forward to the special brunch menu, which includes a gurgling chocolate fountain. Yum.

Best Competitive Sport Played with a Keg on the Field

Kickball

The concept of adult kickball got its start in our nation's capital, where over-educated and underpaid young professionals used the semi-ironic playing of a children's sport to take out their aggression, hide their shameful post-college binge drinking, and find suitable hookups. Perhaps it's the gorgeous weather, or maybe it's the party atmosphere created by that boozed-up college in Tempe, but Phoenix is now one of the top kickball-playing towns in the country.

For better or worse, there are up to a dozen different leagues running around the Valley at any time, all of them offering some variation of the drink/kick/catch/cheer/drink formula that's slowly making the sport of softball obsolete. A squishy ball and lackadaisical pace make kickball safer than most recreational sports, and the gently sloping learning curve is novice-friendly, which is why your gym teacher had you play it as a kid. As we said, you have tons of choices — the city of Scottsdale even runs an odd league where you can drink beer on the field under the watchful eye of city-paid employees — but we prefer the original, WAKA, which offers less playing time than some leagues but is a lot more fun.

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