Phoenix, AZ: Valley of the Sun Chapter, Lake Pleasant Hike

Lake Pleasant Regional Park is a local favorite for boating, but also hiking. There are hundreds of wild burro’s in the area, so there’s a good chance we’ll see some. From our starting point at Pipeline Canyon Trailhead we will go North toward Yavapai Lookout, return and go South on Wild Burro Trail to Beardsley Trail, and return. Total distance about 6.8 miles, with some mild elevation.

Chances are that it will be warm, so we will start at 7:00. We will finalize this depending on weather conditions during the preceding days.

Route Description:

From our meeting spot at Pipeline Canyon Trailhead we will first head North on Pipeline Cyn Trail, take the footbridge across Pipeline Cove to Yavapai Point Trail, which will take us to the Lookout. If the bridge is closed (happens sometimes), we’ll skip the rest of the way to the Lookout and return to the meeting spot. We will then go South on Wild Burro Trail, hugging the coast line, to Beardsley Trail. We’ll decide how far we want to follow Beardsley when we get there, based on weather conditions and our collective stamina. When we’ve had enough, we’ll turn around and return to the meeting point.

Lake Pleasant is part of the Maricopa County parks system, which have a $10 admission fee per vehicle if you don’t have an Annual Park Pass. You can pay the fee at the park entrance. Budget extra time for this, as it can get busy on the weekends.