Hike | Mesquite Canyon Trail | White Tank Mountains — Arizona Hikers Guide

We took the option of parking at Picnic Area 7, just off Waterfall Canyon Road. This saves almost a mile of walking through flat, desert terrain and puts you right at the base of the mountain.

It wasn’t long before we began the ascent via switchbacks. Though the incline is steady, the trail here is well groomed and easy to navigate. This portion of the hike is moderately trafficked, but the trails are wide enough and accommodating. We reached the summit just before mile marker 2, which is a great spot for photographs. On a clear day, you can see across the entire valley as far as Camelback Mountain, the McDowells, and possibly even the Superstitions. We noticed that many hikers turn back at this point—we encountered very few during the rest of the hike. We continued down the trail admiring the rock formations as well as the outcroppings of cholla, prickly pear, and saguaros.

Once you reach the juncture between Mesquite Canyon and Willow Canyon Trail, you have a couple of options. The trail is considered an out and back, and you can certainly take Mesquite Canyon all the way out to mile marker 5 and then head back exactly the way you traveled. If you’re like us, we’ll always take a loop option over an out and back so we can see something new. We decided to take Mesquite Canyon Trail all the way to mile marker 5 where we then hopped onto a small length of Ford Canyon Trail. From there, we finished the loop with the entirety of Willow Canyon Trail, right back to the original juncture. This clockwise lollipop can also be done counterclockwise with the Willow Canyon portion first.

You can expect moderate variations in elevation as well as narrowing trails and occasional loose rock. I took note of the changing geology as the rock changed color from dark brown, to red, to white. Small lizards scampered out in front of us from time to time, and I spotted a mule deer hoof print on the trail. Once in awhile, mountain bikers would come up behind us, and we would let them whiz by. When we returned to the Mesquite Canyon and Willow Canyon Trail juncture, we journeyed back the same two miles that began the hike, but this time taking the switchbacks downhill. If you decide to hike the trail as a lollipop, or partial loop, using Picnic Area 7 as the start, the entire hike is approximately 8 miles.

The best part of hiking in White Tank Mountains is its versatility in customizing routes. My favorite part of the hike was the 1.6-mile stretch of Willow Canyon. There is a moment where you find yourself in a low patch of long, green grass under a shaggy tree that I think might be an ironwood, and then soon after, you’re back up on the mountain with the trail carved in its side and visible from half a mile away. That view of the valley from up there, whether the sky is cloudless or full of clouds, is breathtaking.

From the north: Take Highway 303 south and exit at Peoria Avenue. Turn right and travel west for 1 mile on Peoria Avenue. Turn left (south) onto Cotton Lane. Turn right (west) on Olive Avenue. Continue 4 miles to the park gate.

From the south: Take Highway 303 north and exit at Northern Avenue. Turn left (west) onto Northern Avenue and travel west for 1 mile. Turn right (north) onto Cotton Lane. Turn left (west) onto Olive Avenue. Continue 4 miles to the park gate.