The Town Council approved additional access for the Fountain Hills McDowell Mountain Preserve by giving a unanimous nod to three additional trails proposed by the McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission (MMPC).

At the council’s regular session on June 6, MMPC Chair Scott Grzybowski and MMPC Commissioner and Trailblazer lead Bill Craig outlined their goals for future trails.

The shortest trail is a connection to be known as the Overlook Extension Trail. This trail will extend from the end of the existing Easy Access Trail up the hill to connect with the Ridgeline Trail near the Overlook.

Two additional challenging trails would cross the higher elevations above the Sonoran trails. The “Middle Trail” would extend from the terminus of the Promenade Trail across the mountainside to connect with the Sonoran Trail.

Likewise, a new “Upper Trail” would extend from an intersection with the Western Trail across the mountain at elevations as high as 4,000 feet, according to Craig. This trail would end at the Sonoran Trail at the same location as the Middle Trail.

The work will be done by the volunteers with the Trailblazers group between the 2023/2024 season and 2026/2027, according to Grzybowski’s presentation.

Craig described relaxing “meadow-like” areas and spectacular views the new trails will offer hikers. None of the new trails will have any impact on residential neighborhoods. With volunteer construction there is no cost to the Town on these projects.

The Sonoran Conservancy of Fountain Hills (SCFH) provides the volunteers who assist in the Preserve. This includes the Trailblazers (45), Trailhead Hosts (46) and Hike Stewards and event leaders (36). MMPC calculates these volunteers have provided 2,264 hours at a savings of nearly $72,000 (based on national volunteer hour estimates of $31.80 value). Using MMPC trail counters, Fountain Hills has had 133,467 trail visitors (not unique, but based on passes of counting devices) between October 2022 and April 2023.

New names

The council also approved the MMPC request to rename some of the trails within the Preserve. MMPC and SCFH recommended changes to some of the trail names to provide clarity and remove confusion and redundancy.

The Western Loop Trail will become simply the Western Trail (it was noted this trail is not a loop).

The Alternate Bike path will become an extension of the Andrews/Kinsey Trail with which it connects. This change brings the Andrews/Kinsey Trail all the way to the Promenade Trail just above the Adero Canyon Trailhead.

With the approval of the Overlook extension the Easy Access Trail will become the Overlook Trail.