Stony Mountain, AZ

Stony Mountain is the ridge-ish string of mountains that stretches roughly from SR 51 in Phoenix north to Shea Boulevard between Cave Creek Road & 24th/26th Streets. The trailhead I chose is at the "end" of Mountain View Road just west of 26th Street south of Shea Boulevard. It's not an official trailhead, and there are many ways to connect to this short summit trail.


Starting from the trailhead one goes up towards the mountains, and immediately connects with Trail #100. Go right at the junction (or go straight for a very easy summit just above the "end" of Mountain View Road), and the trail follows the contour of the mountains northward until a slight downhill stretch followed by a slight uphill stretch. After about 3/4 of a mile you reach a junction where Trail #100 continues north into the next small valley; a trail ekes out east towards the subdivision along a small ridgeline (sometimes called "Keystone Point"), and another trail veers perpendicularly to the west away from Trail #100: that last trail is the one you want.The trail follows the top of the ridge as it begins its upward ascent for about a third of a mile. Then it dips below the south edge of the trail. The trail ascends somewhat steeply, but not too much. The drop-off to the south (i.e. to your left as you ascend) is quite steep in many places. A fall would be quite bad. When you approach the top, you encounter a very small saddle. It's more of a notch, and there are some interesting rocks. Veer south from the saddle towards the faint-ish trail going to the summit. Some very slight bouldering is necessary, but the top is pretty flat.

2007-03-04 JimmyLyding