Pima-Dynamite Is the Only Brown's Ranch Stand-In With Drinking Water

Brown's Ranch Trailhead at 30301 N. Alma School Parkway has been closed since July 13. The City of Scottsdale still hasn't named a reopening day. Its McDowell Sonoran Preserve page tells visitors to "watch for the grand reopening date of Brown's Ranch Trailhead anticipated for late October." That is a target. It isn't a date on the calendar. So hiking season is starting while one of the Preserve's busiest gateways is still fenced off.

The City has named four other trailheads to use in the meantime. The list doesn't rank them by how closely each one replaces Brown's Ranch. Only one of the four has drinking water. Only one has the smooth, rolling crushed-granite trails that make a long morning loop easy to plan. That's the same trailhead both times: Pima-Dynamite. The other three are good trailheads, but each is a different hike, and you should plan for that before you leave the house.

The Four Backups, Side by Side

The City's Brown's Ranch project page lists Tom's Thumb, Pima-Dynamite, Fraesfield and Granite Mountain as the nearest trailheads. It flags three of them as having no drinking water. The trailhead listings on the City's Preserve page fill in the rest.

All four have restrooms and shade ramadas, plus car and horse-trailer parking. The real differences are water and grade. On a warm late-October morning, those two decide how far you can actually go.

Pima-Dynamite Is the Closest Match

The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy describes Pima-Dynamite as the newest trailhead in the Preserve and "a major access point to the vast network of trails in the area." It has full trailhead facilities. The amenity list is the longest of the four: a covered amphitheater, shade ramadas, restrooms, water, and maps with suggested routes for different lengths of hikes, rides and equestrian outings.

The parking works for hikers, riders and cyclists alike. There's a large paved lot with extra-long spaces on the northeast side for vehicles carrying bikes. Riders get their own equestrian lot with a shade ramada, hitching rails and a horse water trough. You can drive in off either Dynamite Road or Pima Road.

To get a feel for the trail network here, the Conservancy has a guided hike on the Axle Grease, West Express and Latigo trails from Pima-Dynamite on Saturday, Oct. 24. The events calendar rates it very difficult. Latigo comes up again on the Conservancy's Brown's Ranch schedule for November, covered below.

The Three Dry Trailheads Are Different Hikes

Without water on site, the other three work best as shorter outings or as trips where everything you'll drink rides in your pack. Each one also has its own signature route.

• Tom's Thumb is the climber's option. It was the first trailhead on the north side of the McDowell Mountains. It reaches Tom's Thumb, Windgate Overlook, Gardener's Wall, Sven Slab, Mesquite Canyon and the Windmill Trail. The Tom's Thumb Trail gains 1,200 feet over loose gravel with very steep climbs. The same lot also serves the Marcus Landslide Trail, which the Conservancy describes as a walk through the second-largest landslide in Arizona.
• Granite Mountain gives you the longest view for the least climbing. The Conservancy's scenic route follows the Bootlegger Trail for 1.3 miles, then the Granite Mountain Loop Trail for 0.2 miles to a viewpoint looking across the Verde River Valley to the Mazatzal Mountains. That's 3 miles round trip with less than 200 feet of elevation change. The full loop around Granite Mountain runs 6.1 miles with 330 feet of gain, past rock formations, a lush canyon and saguaros.
• Fraesfield is the easy-mileage choice. The Three Trails Hike links Black Hill, Dixileta and Whiskey Bottle for about 3 miles with less than 300 feet of gain. The longer loop on Whiskey Bottle, Turpentine and Black Hill covers 4.7 miles around the northeastern edge of Fraesfield Mountain. Fraesfield is also the trailhead for the Camino Campana Trail. That 0.94-mile route has a hard surface throughout, 13 educational stops, and an accessible route from the parking lot. It's named for former Scottsdale Mayor Kathryn "Sam" Campana.

The City has asked one thing of everyone while Brown's Ranch is closed: don't park on nearby streets or in surrounding neighborhoods. If the lot at your first choice is full, the plan is the next trailhead on the list, not a curb nearby.

What Comes Back When the Fences Come Down

The project budget is $1,165,599. The City's project page lists the 2004 Preservation Sales Tax as the funding source. Patch reported the closure in July as a $1.17 million project meant to improve safety, reduce congestion and improve the visitor experience.

According to the City, the work covers three things:

1. A redesigned parking lot built for better durability, drainage and circulation.
2. New lighting and roofing on the trailhead building.
3. A new trail dispersal area, with five trail segments rerouted to reduce congestion while protecting sensitive areas.

The City's aerial renderings show the dispersal area with concrete seat walls at the trailhead. The City says the goal is to reduce congestion. It hasn't said which five segments were rerouted, so routes you know from memory may start a little differently than they did in June.

The Conservancy's Calendar Already Has Brown's Ranch in It

The City's wording is "anticipated for late October." The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy has already scheduled four programs at Brown's Ranch Trailhead on four days in a row in early November:

• Saturday, Nov. 7: Sonoran Desert Discovery, a walk covering the Preserve's geology and ecology
• Sunday, Nov. 8: Women's Bike Ride for beginners, about 9 miles with 400 feet of gain
• Monday, Nov. 9: Introduction to Preserve Trails, a hike of about 7 miles for people fairly new to the Preserve
• Tuesday, Nov. 10: Brown's Mountain, Cone Mountain, Latigo Loop, using the Upper Ranch, Wrangler and Brown's Mountain trails

All four are free with an RSVP, but spots were limited when the November calendar went up. A scheduled event doesn't confirm the trailhead is open. That confirmation comes from the City. Still, the dates show where the Preserve's main volunteer group expects to be working in early November.

Until then, October still has plenty going on. October is Preserve Month in Scottsdale. Exploration journals for kids up to third grade are available at any trailhead, along with a commemorative sticker. Here's what's left on the October calendar:

• Friday, Oct. 23: Missions, Massacres & Plagues, a moderate educational hike at Fraesfield covering 1540 to 1850
• Saturday, Oct. 24: Eek at the Peak at Pinnacle Peak Park, 9 to 11 a.m., with a costume contest, scavenger hunt, AZ Bat Rescue, nature stations, book giveaways and a craft
• Saturday, Oct. 24: Women of the McDowells, a half-mile walk on the Kovach Family Trail from Lost Dog Wash, plus the Pima-Dynamite hike mentioned above
• Sunday, Oct. 25: A 15-mile intermediate training ride from Granite Mountain with 700 feet of gain
• Tuesday, Oct. 27: Unsolved Mysteries of the McDowells, a free lecture from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Mustang Library, 10101 N. 90th Street

The City's project page also links trail maps for the North/Central Preserve and the South Preserve. Those are the quickest way to see how far Pima-Dynamite's network reaches toward the trails you'd normally start from Brown's Ranch.

Scottsdale is paying for the Brown's Ranch upgrades with its 2004 Preservation Sales Tax. If you own a home near the Preserve, it's fair to ask what that access adds to your home's value. Common Sense Real Estate 101 can give you a free home valuation with no pressure and none of the inflated fees, so you know your numbers before the trailhead reopens.