Every evening when the sunsets, my roommates and I head to our balcony and take a break from whatever we may be doing. From our balcony, we have a view of South Mountain, a tiny bit of the Phoenix Skyline, and “A” Mountain. South Mountain always looks very unique depending on the time of day. In the morning, you can see the depth of the mountain, but at night as the sun sets behind it, it looks 2D.

One weekend, my friend Sarah and I woke up just after the sunrise to hike South Mountain. She said this was her favorite spot to go hiking near campus because there are so many trails and its very relaxing! After hiking with her, I can totally see why! There are numerous trails intersecting each other, but since South Mountain is so vast, you are never in anyone else’s personal space. Once you hike a little bit inward, you become engulfed by South Mountain, and at certain vantage points you can’t see the surrounding city and it really feels like you could be lost in the desert.

I would consider this hike to be more difficult than easy since you are constantly going up and down little mountains, however I wouldn’t say its nearly as difficult as Camelback or Piestewa! This would be the perfect hike if you want to get out in nature and not be near many people or want to stroll through the desert at your own pace.

A really popular trail at South Mountain is Dobbins Lookout, which is the highest vantage point within South Mountain at an elevation of 2,330 feet! From Dobbins Lookout, you can see Camelback Mountain, Piestewa Peak, and downtown Phoenix. I hope to hike to Dobbins Lookout next semester!

I can’t remember the name of the trail we took, but it led to this cute stone hut! I guess there are multiple little huts throughout South Mountain, especially on the Dobbins Lookout trail, therefore I couldn’t find the name of this specific hut or the trail it’s on. Let me know if you know which trail it’s on!

Here are the coordinates for the cute little hut, maybe you can use the maps app to help find it!
Location: 33.361, -112.004

What’s your favorite trail to hike at South Mountain?