Desert mountains everywhere. That’s the atmosphere on the Black Hill Trail.
Tethered to the recently upgraded Fraesfield trailhead in the north sector of Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve, the smooth and easy path is steeped in mountain views near and far.
The 1.9-mile route, part of the 315-mile Valley-circling Maricopa Trail, takes off from a shaded trailhead rest area where an artful metal sign identifies the many visible peaks, mesas, and buttes from the trail.
Please take a moment to appreciate the landmark names and their places in the landscape.
Once something has a name, it’s no longer just an inconsequential encounter or a hazy outline on the horizon, but a real thing — a character, per se — in your personal explorations. It becomes like a good friend you’re happy to meet again and again.
Like all trails in the 30,580+ acre, north Scottsdale preserve, Black Hill is well-signed, immaculately maintained, and designed to guide users through some of the area’s most gorgeous vegetation and geological formations.
The 4-mile out-and-back hike begins with a brush by a chain of rounded flanks that comprise 3,055-foot Fraesfield Mountain.
Following an old dirt road, the trail wanders through classic Sonoran Desert vegetation dominated by turpentine bushes, cholla, yuccas, mesquite trees, and colorful spots of wildflowers.
After a short traipse through sunny rangeland, the route makes a mild uphill climb to where views of distant mountain ranges and peaks appear over acres of paloverde trees and enormous saguaro cactuses.
Look for the familiar forms of Four Peaks (7,657 feet), Weavers Needle (4,554 feet), the Flatiron (4,656 feet), Mount Peeley (7,011 feet), and Mount Ord (6,529 feet), as well as other landmarks named on the trailhead sign.
The far-off stony peaks are countered with equally impressive trailside rock formations. The mini massifs — often called mushroom rocks — take on bizarre shapes with chockstones and slipped slabs heaped in a sort of natural outdoor sculpture gallery.
Throughout the hike, the craggy heaps of Cholla and Granite mountains hover to the north, with acres of green desert flora huddled at their bases. The Black Hill Trail ends at the junction with the popular Granite Mountain Trail, where it’s easy to pick up a connecting path to extend the hike for more mountain immersion and a chance to test your peak-naming memory.
Black Hill Trail
Length: 4 miles round trip.
Rating: Easy.
Elevation: 2,514-2,667 feet.
Getting there: From Loop 101 in Scottsdale, take Exit 36 for Princess/Pima and go 6.5 miles north on Pima Road to Dynamite Boulevard/Rio Verde Drive. Turn right and go 5.6 miles to the trailhead on the left. There’s a restroom but no water. Preserve hours are sunrise to sunset daily.
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