Hiking in Phoenix Arizona: Camelback, Papago, and Pinnacle Peak

hiking in arizona

The Southwest USA is filled with red rocks and natural wonders that look like they'd be from a different planet. It's amazing how beautiful our world is. Within the USA alone you can go hiking through pretty much every terrain imaginable.

While lush forests are the first to come to mind when you think "hike," you may (or may not) be surprised that the only plants you'll see on Phoenix hikes are wispy trees and cacti.

Three fun Phoenix area hikes include Camelback, Papago, and Pinnacle Peak.

Camelback Mountain

Difficulty: Intermediate (Cholla Trail) or Advanced (Echo Canyon Trail)

View from top of Camelback

Phoenix's most popular hiking spot is Camelback. Situated next to Downtown Scottsdale just northeast of Phoenix, it provides easy access in terms of getting there from anywhere in the Phoenix area, especially if you're staying in Scottsdale.

The Cholla Trail provides great exercise for those in shape but still provides a challenge. Echo Canyon is said to be for those more experienced.

Read more about tips for hiking Camelback here.

Hiking Camelback Mountain

Papago Mountain

Difficulty: Easy

Papago Mountain Phoenix

Papago is more of a rock formation that you can walk around on than a mountain and is a great spot for checking out views of Downtown Phoenix from afar.While the address is technically Phoenix, Papago is more in the Tempe area.

Young kids and families with dogs were easily able to get around this area.

DSC_0178

Pinnacle Peak

Difficulty: Moderate-intermediate

Pinnacle Peak Hike Scottsdale AZ

Situated in North Scottsdale, Pinnacle Peak is a good spot that provides variety to hikers. Parts of the trail are more flat, parts of it are steep, and there are good lookout points along the way. If you're in Phoenix from out of town, you'll love all the cacti scattered up close around the well-maintained trail.

The intensity varies at times - while you definitely get more of a workout on Pinnacle than Papago, it's not as difficult as the Cholla Trail on Camelback.

Pinnacle Peak Arizona

Photos of an Amazing Rooftop View in New York City

If you don't live in a big city, a trip to New York will have you awestruck at all the skyscrapers. Rooftop patios, bars, restaurants - you name it - on a nice day, these are some of the best places to be if you're looking for a nice view. Here are some photos from my hotel in Midtown that provided panoramic views of tall buildings - you don't have to look out at Rockefeller or the Empire State Building (or pay $$$) for views like this.

Brunch at Friend of a Farmer in New York

Sunday brunch is one of my favorite weekend activities. There's something so relaxing in catching up with friends mid-morning with a nice meal and a mimosa.

My friends and I were on the hunt of doing just that during our Sunday in New York City and ended up at Friend of a Farmer in Gramercy.

This restaurant has "farm fresh" food and has a charming country feel. From the second you step inside, it feels like you're transported temporarily from the city to a quiet country home.

While one of the servers was a little short with us, the others we interacted with were very kind and helpful. Right when we were about to grab a seat at the bar, a table opened up.

We sat in the upstairs side portion of the restaurant which was decorated with baskets, pots and pans, and other old-town-feel trinkets.

To start, we ordered lemon bread with apple butter.

For our meals we each got a different type of stuffed omelet. Each omelet came in a hot griddle with potatoes and sauces on the side. And of course, the girls got mimosas.

That mimosa was seriously the best I've ever had. Maybe it was because the orange juice tasted extremely fresh, or maybe it was because the restaurants I've had mimosas at previously are trying to disguise a $10 glass of Korbel and Minute Made.

Keep in mind that the bar doesn't open until noon - we were sat around 11:45-ish so our mimosas didn't come right away, which was totally fine, though something you'll want to keep in mind if you get there earlier in the day.

While it was a little pricier than what I'm used to back home - $36 each, including tip - (though that is to be expected from New York), I'd definitely return on a future visit to New York. The combination of the fresh mimosa, hearty omelet, and lemon bread should be enough for anyone to try out this place in the city.

Address: 77 Irving Pl., #1, New York, NY 10003

The Beauty of NYC's Bryant Park

Manhattan's most famous park is Central Park, though there are many other public gardens around New York City. Bryant Park is a smaller square of bliss, surrounded by skyscrapers yet still embodying a tranquil break from the bustle. Located between Times Square and Grand Central Terminal, you're also sure to spot it if you're in that part of the neighborhood. My friend and I had a lovely break in the park, where we took photos, people watched, and relaxed on some porch swings.

Upper East Siders Only: 'Gossip Girl' Locations Tour

During my junior year of high school, I was beyond delighted to see Gossip Girl, a book series, come to life on the small screen.

Seeing S, B, N, and Lonely Boy in real life against the New York City backdrop was enough for me to convince my parents that we should take our annual vacation to the city instead of Arizona.

After a lot of persuasion they agreed, and I have been bit by NYC's bug ever since! 

Seeing as last weekend I was able to visit the city for the fifth time, I was excited to join On Location Tours for their Gossip Girl Sites Tour to scout out locations where the show was filmed.

Gossip Girl Sites Tour in New York

First, we met at The Palace Hotel to check in with our guides, Kelsey and Madeline. They were both cheery and welcoming as we checked in beside Chuck and Serena's old place of residence (The Palace Hotel):

Our tour was Saturday at 10 am and there were two coach buses - one full and one about half-full.

We would drive to different locations and watch scenes from the show that corresponded with what we were seeing in between. The tour lasted about three hours.

For some locations we would get out and have some time to explore or take photos, and for others we would just drive by them.

As we drove up 5th Avenue we discussed our favorite characters from the show and watched a few clips.

After driving by one entrance of Constance/St. Jude's, the characters' high school - filmed at Synod of Bishops Russian Church - we stopped and got out to take photos at Museum of the City of New York, which was used as the other entrance to the school!

Next, it was time for some sweets shopping, so we stopped at Dylan's Candy Bar for about half an hour - the same spot where Dan and Vanessa bought candy in a scene. ;)

After Dylan's Candy Bar we stopped at Bendel's for some headband shopping, because you know, we ALL have to channel our inner Blair Waldorf.

Bendel's is located next to Harry Winston, so we got to see -

[SPOILER ALERT - SEASON 3] 

- where Chuck picked out the gorgeous diamond engagement ring...that he held onto even when he got mugged in Prague during season three's tearful finale! :( 

Since everyone wants to be Blair Waldorf - channeling her can only go so far - we simply couldn't pass up the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The MET steps were B's "throne" in the early seasons as she, Serena, and her minions would sit and have yogurt before school.

Grand Central Terminal was one of my favorite spots because that was where the series' opening scene was filmed: after Dan and Jenny meet their dad upon arriving from a summer in Hudson, Serena is also "spotted" getting off the train. Aw, now I'm nostalgic.

We also scouted additional locations, including the New York Public Library, The Carlyle Hotel, Laduree, The Empire Hotel, and the Pulitzer Fountain.

While we had a break to check out the Empire, I was exhausted from taking a red eye flight the night before and opted for an iced coffee instead.

It was a fun way to spend a morning in New York, and I'd definitely recommend this tour for any Gossip Girl super fans!

XOXO

Tour Details

Book online here!

Cost: $43 + $2 booking fee

Runs: Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays; daily July - August

Meets at: 455 Madison Avenue (The Palace Hotel)

Go Seek Explore was invited to this experience as a guest of On Location Tours. Opinions are always my own.

Attending North America's Biggest Pool Party

When I got the opportunity to attend Wet Electric on Saturday for free (a friend won free tickets and gave me one) I was beyond excited to go to what's known as "North America's Biggest Pool Party." The event was held at Big Surf Waterpark in Tempe, AZ on April 25-26, 2015.

Saturday at Wet Electric

We got there around 1 pm. The event ran from 11 am to 9 pm and had an assortment of DJs playing at the wave pool all day, and around 7 pm the headliner Tiësto came on stage. The floating stage was at the far end of the wave pool.

First we stored our stuff in a locker ($10/day) before exploring the event space at the park. We saw there was also a headphone disco ("silent disco") where you could trade your ID temporarily for a set of headphones. We returned to try that out a little later but didn't stay very long.

Food & Drinks

There was a makeshift "bar" set up near the wave pool where you could buy an assortment of drinks, including: $10 mixed drinks, $12 vodka + Monster, $8 Jell-o shots (which came in a plastic syringe - like a "shot"), and some canned beers. There was a decent assortment of drinks/alcohol to choose from, but it wasn't a "full bar" considering it was a makeshift table set up area.

After a few hours of listening to the DJs in the wave pool, we made our way to a food stand and shared a $9 plate of chicken strips and fries. The chicken wasn't very good, but that is to be expected from a water park. No outside food or drinks were allowed into the park (understandable) so we knew there was going to be limited healthy/quality food and it would be inevitable to eat it since we were there for so long.

Tiësto at Wet Electric

Tiësto came on at the end of the night and his set was my favorite from the day. The wave pool was filled with the crowd and every time the beat dropped everyone would start splashing. We were drenched! It's safe to say that you shouldn't worry about doing your hair (or curling it beforehand like I did - ha!). This was definitely a different experience than when I saw Calvin Harris and Alesso at Super Fan Fest earlier this year.

Overall

Looking back on the day, the event was underwhelming and I think I had built it up in my head to be more fun than it actually was. We were waiting to experience the Saturday event to decide if we wanted to purchase tickets for Sunday because we wanted to see Dillon Francis and the other DJs, but decided it was not worth it, despite having a decent ticket price compared to some other concerts.

It would have been worth it to maybe just have come an hour or so before Tiësto - not because the other DJs weren't good, but because the event seemed to drag on.

Also, the bathrooms increasingly became dirtier as the night went on, which is to be expected (and has nothing to do with the event company since it's the location), but I'd rather not experience using those restrooms again. However, I will say that they were well-stocked and never ran out of toilet paper, soap, or paper towels.

Lastly, since it was at a water park there weren't chairs/lounge chairs like you'd have at a typical hotel pool/beach club. There were cabanas you could purchase beforehand as an optional upgrade, however, they didn't seem worth the price and looked kind of cheap. The picnic tables we sat at to eat our food were dirty with trash from the people at the event.

I had expected the event to be more in the likes of a Las Vegas-style beach club, but it was not the case in my opinion.

Hiking Camelback Mountain For The First Time

Coming from the Pacific Northwest, hiking in the Arizona desert is a completely different experience. Arizona was definitely a scene change for me. Lush forests with thousands of evergreen trees on treks through the Cascades were replaced by big piles of rocks with a few cacti thrown in. Jokes aside, hiking in Phoenix is very beautiful, especially once you realize that it's going to be very different from a traditional forest setting. Plus, absolutely perfect weather in the springtime is the cherry on top.

Last weekend a friend and I hiked Camelback Mountain, the most popular mountain to hike in the Phoenix area.

The weather: Mid-April, low 70s in the morning, mid-80s around noon, clear skies and sunny

The trail: Cholla. There are two trails to choose from: Cholla and Echo Canyon. Since neither of us had hiked the mountain prior, a friend suggested we start with the Cholla Trail, which is a more moderate route (unlike Echo, which is known for its intensity and difficulty).

Time: A little over two hours round trip, including time to stop and take photos/rest at the top (plus 15 min. walk each way to get to/from our cars).

Hiking Camelback Mountain For The First Time

We arrived in the trail area around 7:00 am. The skies were starting to clear and the weather was in the low 70s; very comfortable for 7:00 am. We parallel parked on Invergordon (64th Street) quite far down the road since there were plenty of early risers that beat us to it.

The trail was simple to start. The path is somewhat wide and smooth. Once we started to increase in elevation, the trail started to get rockier and there was more "fancy footwork" to be done.

As someone who's not an experienced hiker by any means, I will say that while I started to feel a little more of a workout at this point, it was still fairly easy. We kept going and stopped at the first viewpoint to take photos. Downtown Phoenix looked so small!

After this section was complete, next came the infamous rock climbing portion. I had heard from numerous other people that you have to "legit rock climb to get to the top." (Before I had left that morning, I idly thought about bringing my rock climbing shoes from when I used to take climbing classes. I obviously didn't though. Ha!)

The thought of rock climbing slightly freaked me out, but when I saw that there were numerous jagged edges and pieces of rocks to hold onto - and that it wasn't literally a vertical slab of rock (it's at a slight angle) - my nerves ceased. Don't get me wrong - it's still pretty vertical, but not where you'd need ropes and a harness.

I really enjoyed the "climbing" part of the hike, and before we knew it, we were at the top. Once there, we took in the views of the valley and snapped a few photos to celebrate our effort up the mountain.

On the way down we realized the importance of hiking shoes. Both of us were in Nikes, which were fine, though the trail is well-worn and the gravel made it slippery. We had a few moments where we almost fell, but even if we had fallen, it probably would've only amounted to a few scrapes and bruises.

Tips For Hiking Camelback Mountain

Start with Cholla

I haven't done the other trail, though from countless stories from friends (and reviews on TripAdvisor and Yelp), Cholla is the best one to start out with. It's not a walk in the park, but it doesn't require the expertise that Echo does.

Go early in the morning, and be careful depending on the time of year

Spring in the rest of the Northern Hemisphere is actually summer in Phoenix. Starting the hike a little after sunrise in April was the perfect temperature - comfortably warm and not too hot. Since it's snowbird season the trail was a little crowded but it was still enjoyable. Also, the earlier you get there, the better chance you have at getting a closer parking spot.

When I first moved to Phoenix last July, I looked into hiking Camelback and was reading Yelp reviews. The reviews read more like warnings: many were saying that people can have heatstroke, pass out, or even die from the heat in the summer. The desert temperatures rise well over the 100s in the "true" summer months, so please be careful if you consider hiking during that time of year.

Wear hiking or sturdy athletic shoes

While the Cholla Trail is more of a moderate hike, you'll be making a mistake if you try to do it in flip flops. The path begins to get rocky about 1/3 of the way up, and sandals would definitely slide off in the last portion toward the top. On the way down it gets a little slipperier with loose gravel.

Bring - and drink - water

This is a given for any physical activity, but considering the heat is dry and not humid, you may forget to hydrate as you move along. I used my Nalgene water bottle which came in handy as I attached the handle onto my backpack when I needed to use both hands for the climbing portion.

Overall, my first experience hiking Camelback was a very positive one. It was a beautiful day, the weather was perfect, and it was just enough of a good workout without being brutal. I'd definitely return to try this trail again, or even work my way up to Echo Canyon.