Freedom Trail 302 to Piestewa Peak – An Awesome Extension to Piestewa Peak

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If you’ve read our post on the Piestewa Peak Hike, you know that we absolutely love the Summit Trail and Piestewa Peak.  While the trek up to Piestewa Peak is super tough, and incredibly rewarding, the Freedom Trail 302 extends this trail with breathtaking views of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, Downtown Phoenix, and  most of the valley thanks to the rapid elevation gain.  

Slightly lesser known and much less hiked is the Freedom Loop Trail or Freedom Trail 302 as formerly known. The Freedom Trail 302 trail is a part of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. In fact, it runs around the Piestewa peak mountain, providing stunning views of the Sonoran Desert.

We’ve hiked the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail (#300) several times, but had never hiked the Freedom Trail (#302).  Katy and I used this trail as training for our Rim-to-River and Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim hikes at the Grand Canyon. Much more to come on these in a future blog post.

As most of the trails within the Phoenix Mountain Preserve are, the Freedom Trail 302 was expectedly busy. There were hundreds of day hikers enjoying their time outdoors before the onslaught of heat comes in the coming weeks.

A major difference between the Summit Trail and the Freedom trail, however are the amount of gorgeous flowers and plants that you can experience along the way. While there are fewer places to stop and rest (while staying out of the way), since the trail is less populated you can stop and admire some of the plants that the desert has to offer. In full bloom, most of the plants were beautiful.

How long is the Freedom Trail 302 in Phoenix?

The Freedom Trail 302 trail, in and of itself, is a loop trail that measures in at nearly exactly 4 miles. The trail provides 1,099 feet of elevation gain over those 4 miles.  Nearly ¾ of the way into the trail you can elect to hike up to Piestewa Peak or finish the Freedom Trail 302.  If you accept the challenge of climbing to the peak, you’ll add 650 or so feet in elevation gain. 

The trail starts as a pleasant stroll through the desert with very little elevation gain. The

Are there snakes on the Freedom Trail 302?

There are snakes on the Freedom Trail #302, so be extremely careful when on the trail.  We saw 2 different rattlesnakes within two miles of the trailhead and they were right out in the open.  The rattlesnake pictured here let us pass through without much of a scare.  Be careful everywhere on the trails, but especially when hiking near boulders that create shade that’s close to the trailways.

In addition to the two rattlesnakes, we saw a bunch of squirrels and rabbits. It’s not wildly uncommon to see coyote, javelina and jackrabbits too, though we didn’t see any on this trip. Of course we also saw plenty of lizards.

On the back half of the trail we were introduced to Blister Beetles. These insects were quite scary at the time because we had no idea what they were. The Blister Beetle gets his name from the effect that its blood has on human skin upon contact. More dangerous, though, is what that substance can do to your eyes. Leave these dudes alone. They seemed to be way more interested in jumping between bushes than bothering us.

On the Trail

We started the trail going clockwise and I’ve seen many folks recommend that path on All Trails and other places. It seems like a better bet to end your hike with the steep climb up to Piestewa Peak.

The trail is mostly flat with slight inclines for the first mile and a half. All Trails tracked about 382 feet of elevation gain in that first section. The slight increases significantly, however, as you’ll climb that much in the next 4/10 of a mile. This section of the hike is the prettiest though, so stop for breaks as needed and enjoy the views of the north side of the mountain. We saw both snakes in this section, so be on alert.

The next mile and a quarter is mostly downhill as you wrap around to the west side of the mountain. This decline in elevation is a good opportunity to get your lung capacity back if you plan to hike up the Summit Trail.

The hike to Piestewa Peak is about 8/10 of a mile from this turn. The elevation here is about 1540 ft. Piestewa Peak soars to 2,612 feet. According to my math, this 8/10 of a mile has over 1,050 feet in elevation gain. That’s more than the previous two climbs from earlier, joined together. Again, feel free to read about the Summit Trail to Piestewa Peak to prepare for that trail.

The Freedom Trail 302 offers really great views that you can’t necessarily get from the Summit Trail. The Piestewa Trail is also much more quiet and offers more of a scenic route that creates a glimpse of the Sonoran Desert. Watch out for snakes and bugs along the way, though!

Whether you want the full 5-mile trek around and eventually up the mountain, or the 2.1 mile aggressive hike up and down the Summit Trail, this mountain creates great views that you’ll earn.