Maricopa Trail - Estrellas to PIR Photoset • mt98dew • 2026-04-12 • HikeArizona.COM

Maricopa Trail - Estrellas to PIR, AZ

	2026-04-12
	4 by mt98dew

Maricopa Trail - Estrellas to PIR

Phoenix, AZ

Maricopa Trail - Estrellas to PIR

Phoenix, AZ

Hiking	9.40 Miles	1,322 AEG

Hiking	9.40 Miles	2 Hrs 8 Mns	4.41 mph
	1,322 ft AEG

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Decided to stay close to home and finish up the Maricopa Trail section involving the Estrellas. Couldn’t get on the trail until 6am because the park is still on winter hours and don’t open their gates until 6.

(All Maricopa County Parks change their hours to 5am May 1st

). The Maricopa Trail is well marked within the park system. All trail junctures have Maricopa Trail signs with arrows guiding you on which trail to take. Starting at the Quail Trail, I took that in to the Rainbow Valley. I turned east on the Rainbow for about .8 miles until I reached the Toothacher. Just on the Toothacher for a short time to connect to the Butterfield Trail. The Butterfield took me east and south to connect to the Gadsden Trail. And then I only had to go about 1.7 miles to reach where I left off on my last Maricopa Trail hike. In total, it was about 4.65 miles to reach this point. Returned the way I came. Great temps today. Some nice color to the sky, but unfortunately I wasn’t out early enough to catch it. No wildlife, though I did see a roadrunner on the drive in.

Encountered 7 hikers.

Side note. I noticed that the Maricopa Trail splits when the Butterfield crossed the Coldwater Trail. This is because this is where the Maricopa sends a spur off to the Buckeye Hills Regional Park. This is the counties attempt to include all their parks. This spur would be part of what is “Westar to Estrella” in HAZ and is very similar to what the Maricopa Trail does for the San Tan Mountains.

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