Brown’s Ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona.  A beautiful backpacking and hiking adventure

Scottsdale’s premier trail hiking and outdoor adventure

Scottsdale’s Brown’s Ranch Trailhead is the place to be for a splendid vacation, located at: 30301 N Alma School Pkwy Scottsdale, AZ 85262. Perfect for almost every occasion, you can usually find people here hiking, biking, or having a picnic.

Spanning across four miles, Brown’s Ranch is a loop trail that offers you beautiful scenes of cacti flowers that bloom during spring. If you are lucky enough, you may encounter some wildlife. Out of these, deer and birds are the most commonly spotted here.

Good Memories

I can still remember the last time I visited this place. At the advice of a friend, I went there on a weekday. My only complaint with the ranch in the past was that the roads were packed with cars, bikes, and horses. Arriving at a much less crowded Brown’s Ranch, I walked under the hot summer sun and was able to enjoy its perks without being greeted by an enormous gathering. I stopped at the trailhead to make a short visit to the men’s room to freshen up for the long day ahead.

The good thing about this ranch has always been that you have a number of activities you could do here. From the beginner-friendly ½ mile trail to a much longer route around the ranch, the landscape here is perfect for hikers of all levels.  This is a lot more similar to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve trip I had took.

Walking a little further from the trailhead, I saw a few volunteers roaming around, and I remembered some of them through my past visits. We exchanged greetings. They had been very helpful when I had come here the first time. Back then, I was unable to decide which trail would best suit me, and they assisted me in making an informed decision. Stopping where I stood, I took out the map I had of the numerous routes of Brown’s Ranch from my backpack.

Level Up

Having a variety of slopes and elevations, it is no surprise that people often use their visit here as an opportunity to level up their skill in biking or to increase their stamina. After my previous hikes here, I was confident that I had leveled up enough to make the long way around this park.

As I started walking on the path I had chosen, I heard a few steps approaching me from behind. I was overtaken by a group of runners. Motivated by watching them run, I checked my bag for the essentials one last time. They were all there. A map, two bottles of water, a hand towel, and a sports cap. I put on the sports cap and started walking.

Although drenched in sweat, I made my way around the loop, passing through a variety of cacti, a group of bikers riding up and down elevated grounds, taking in the scenic views as I went. As I made my way around Brown’s Ranch, it was beginning to get dark. The park was now flooded with leashed dogs and old people, and I could hear birds chirping in the distance. I stopped walking when I reached the restroom and panted, holding my knees. After a while, I stood upright and wiped my forehead clean with the hand towel. The chirping repeated once again, and then it stopped. It was time to leave-taking back memories of the happy trip.