Pass Mountain Loop Trail

This is a hiking trail at Usury Park. I have hiked this trail for years. There are fantastic views of the Superstition Mountains and Four Peaks. The view of the east valley is breath taking. &.5 miles in length, this trail circles Pass Mountain. There are a couple short climbs, but nothing too intense. People mountain bike the trail, and you’ll see an occasional horseback rider on the trail’
We hiked the trail today and saw the desert bloom in the early stages. The brittle bush were in bloom nicely. The Chupa Rosa bushes were just starting. Wesaw an Ocotillo cactus in full bloom and several wild desert flowers were just starting.
This hike is best from late September through early April. There is little shade so when the weather warms up and the sun is out it gets pretty toasty. and as always, bring plenty of water.

This was a nice, long hike on an easy to navigate trail — however, the rangers have really cleared a good chunk of the trail which made it less rural/​fun for us.

Great hiking trail. We do it counter clock wise and it’s a good workout. Lots to see. Some wonderful back mountain views. Come out early, less mountain bikes.

I went with some friends to hike this trail the other morning. It was a beautiful day in early January, you have got to love living in Arizona. The full trail is about 7.5 miles in one pass. It’s nice that the trail is a full circle so you don’t have to backtrack. It took us about 3.5 hours to complete the full thing. In the first mile we made good time because it was a gradual incline, but we slowed mid-​way where it starts to get rocky and you have to watch your footing so you don’t slip. I say that but there were people there running on the trail. I’ll walk. Thanks. We stopped midway for a snack in the shade. It’s nice being so close to Mesa yet you can find such a quiet isolated desert vista. The one thing I would highly recommend is going left when you enter the trail. This allows for a nice incline and a sharper decline vs having to navigate up some rocky areas.

This is a rich, desert, mountainous hiking loop trail. Want to learn more about rattlesnakes, cacti, strange saguaros, geology, wild flowers, lizards, gray fox, desert tortoise, birds of prey and looking for something to do today? Maybe a full moon walk to listen to the bats sing, owls call and the coyotes howl?
The trail offers photographers, endurance training or hikers superb opportunity to take in the beauty of the earth from this steep and sweet 2,840-foot elevation. Round trip 7.4 miles, 3 to 5 hours. Elevation gain, a thousand feet. This is some great outdoors.
There are three access points for this trail. One is from the horse staging/​picinic area at the east end of the park. 3939 North Usery Pass Road, Mesa, AZ 8520, This is the actual trailhead. The second is from the Wind Cave Trailhead.
The third is not inside the park but rather on National Forest land at the Northern terminus of Meridian Road. 5635 N Meridian Rd. Apache Junction, Arizona