Irish Hills trails

What a great location.
First, it couldn’t be easier to find as it is at the end of Madonna Road (at Devaul Ranch Rd) in between two houses, with Laguna Lake Park across the street. Residential parking is easy to find. You can even watch someone’s TV while you stretch.
Second, there is a variety of hikes. Check the a map out front. Take a picture of that. You will have some forks and decisions to make and that will help.
We climbed UP the Maricopa trail. The first half is a steady incline under a shady canopy. Shady in both senses of the word: a) it shields you from the sun, b) it’s a sneaky place for a mountain lion to hide. You will cross some teeny-​tiny bridges. The second half is under the sun. There are at least three stretches steeper than 45 degrees, so stretch first.
We made it to the fork and decided to go down. We were close to the 600′ elevation gain, or so I’d like to think. I’m mid-​40s with premature arthritis and I’m 20−30% heavier than I should be, so it wasn’t too hard, but I didn’t want to push it. We went down King trail.
King trail has no shade as it zigs and zags through an open meadow of knee-​high fire bait. That will do a number on your calves. The decline is much more consistent that the Maricopa, and is longer.
You could go UP the King and DOWN the Maricopa, but I feel Maricopa’s uneven terrain is better suited for climbing. Plus, going up the King, backwards in my eyes, you would be zagging and zigging.