Piestewa Peak via Dreamy Draw

The Piestewa Peak summit, starting from the Dreamy Draw trailhead in Phoenix, Arizona, offers a challenging and rewarding hiking experience. The trailhead, located in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve, serves as the gateway to the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail, which leads hikers to the summit of Piestewa Peak.

The newly renovated Dreamy Draw trailhead is easily accessible and well-equipped, providing visitors with a pleasant starting point for their adventure. Hikers are greeted at the trailhead with potable water and flushing toilets with plenty of signage for trails in the park.  The trailhead has a decent amount of parking but will fill up on the weekends.  For weekend hikes, hikers should arrive prior to nine to get a decent spot. 

To get to the summit of Piestewa hikers will have a 6.8 mile out and back that has roughly 2,300 feet of elevation gain.  Hikers will start out on the Christiansen Trail 100 and start making their way to the summit.  The trail starts out wide and has a gradual ascent. At 0.7 miles, hikers will take a right hand turn onto an unmarked (but well-maintained trail).  From there hikers will climb for another 0.3 miles until they reach the first saddle.  

From there hikers will link up on the Freedom trail and will have a mild descent for the next miles.  At 2.4 miles into the trail hikers will climb over 1,000 feet to the summit of Piestewa.  There will be a series of short switchbacks and hikers will turn onto the Summit Trail for the final push.  Hikers should expect this portion of the trail to be the most crowded and also the portion of the trail where there are no dogs allowed. 

As hikers reach the summit, the trail unfolds breathtaking vistas of the Phoenix metropolitan area and the neighboring mountain ranges. The summit rewards adventurers with a 360-degree panorama, offering a sense of triumph and a perfect vantage point for sunrise or sunset photography. Once hikers have savored their summit attempt, they can return the way they came back to the trailhead. This route to the summit is a different way for hikers to challenge themselves with this summit.