HikeArizona.COM

I feel like some trail chat.

What is your favorite workout hike, or what are the best ones for where you live?

Right now, I feel like I have not really got a good workout hike, but that can change. I may do laps on the Linda Vista Trail. Kimball is too long for that, I think. Elden for Flagstaff, nothing or Black Mesa for Kayenta, and the A trail for Alamogordo were the previous big excercise hikes, and then Pusch was great last year. Seems like the valley has many options, and of course, opinions vary.

There's a 1/2 mile loop in my neighborhood that has a 250-foot gain in 200 yards, and more gradual descent on the other side. I like to do a four mile warmup, then 8-12 laps around the loop, with another mile and a half to get home. I try to stay above 4 mph. The last couple times up that hill can be tough.

From early to mid October until sometime in May I hike up the Flat Iron, its a 10 minute drive for me. Once it starts to warm up I head to Six Shooter outside of Globe.

Mine change from time to time. I never found a good workout hike near Needles/Bullhead where I've been wintering. There are some great hikes down there, but they are not close by, and most are not quick workout trails, they are off trail bushwhacking.

Up here in Williams in summer season I have a lot of choices. For quick after-work hike in summer I can do High School Hill or Benham Trail. But I really like Summit Mountain for its well-built trail with a fairly constant gradient that keeps you breathing hard if you push it. It is very short, only a mile to the summit, so is a short workout. Unbelievable views from the top and on the way up.

And as I start getting fitter, due to FINALLY finding new shoes that don't hurt my feet, I'll be doing Bill Williams Mountain more, up the Benham Trail.

Shoes I found? Altra Superior 2.0. The square toebox turned out to be the key factor, plus they are fairly narrow. All other shoes are too wide and too pointy-toed.

@whereveriroam
How often do you do the Flatiron?

It's Shaw Butte and North Mountain for me. Only 5 minutes from my place.

Jim_H wrote:How often do you do the Flatiron?

Since 2009 when I moved to AJ I try for 25 times a year. I wish I kept track of the number of times from the first time I went up (2000).

I have a pretty firm count on all but 1 of my big hikes, and then I have a good estimate. It's nice to know, even if most others won't care.

One member here on HAZ does the Flat Iron from my guess at least 3 times a week year round. I've caught him doing doubles and even triples on back to back days. I'm pretty fast but he makes me look like I'm in slow motion!

Syoung?

@Jim_H
He blow by you to?

@whereveriroam
No, but he does that one a lot.

Yep, Flatiron is my go to when I can't make it out anywhere else (unfortunately, that seems to be the majority of the time now). I think I am up to 240 times now but I'd have to double check.

@syoung
That this month or this year?

The only thing I miss about living on the west side of Phoenix is having the PHX Mountain Preserves so close by. The closest workout hike here in Tempe is probably Guadalupe Ridge at South Mountain, but even that takes quite a while to get to when it's evening rush hour after work. I used to live right next to Shaw Butte, then right next to Piestewa Peak, plus I worked right next to South Mountain.

From my front door I can get on the dirt in Deem Hills Recreation Area in about 7:30 minutes. I have a 4.75 mile loop with about 900' of elevation gain that utilizes parts of the Circumference, Palisade, Basalt, and Ridgeline trails. I usually hike it in 1.5 hours with a 28# pack. I try to get on the trail about three times a week and that seems to keep me ready for my backpacking trips.

When I was in the northwest valley over the winter I was rotating between the standard fare of Deem Hills, East Wing Mountain, West Wing Mountain, Sunrise Mountain, and Thunderbird Park. By the end of the winter those were all getting pretty boring though. Here in Page I haven't really found a great place for a workout hike as there are very few established trails, let alone ones of any length with very much elevation gain. On occasion I go hiking out on the slickrock near the Chains swim area where there's a 250 ft tall slickrock butte and a few other domes. I need to get out there more often, it's really pretty too. Page and the surrounding area is darn beautiful but all the recreation funding around here seems to go toward water sports. I guess it doesn't help that the rez is pretty much off limits.

It was Shaw Butte and North Mountain loop and the #100 Trail which I have done so many times, I could literally tell you without looking at any point within a .10 or .2 of exactly how far I had hiked and dialed in an EXACT 10 mile hike.

Now it will be the large trail system near my new house on 74. It won't be Go John (Cave Creek Rec Area) as I'm too frugal to pay to hike very often.

How far do people drive to their workout hikes? 15 to 20 minutes? Less? Walk to it? What about more, like 30 minutes, 45, an hour, 1 hour and 15 minutes?

My most frequent workout hike starts at my garage door. The next top handful are within 5-10 minutes. There are a bunch more within an hour.