Cholla Trail reopens on Camelback Mountain

PHOENIX — After being shut down for two and a half years, Cholla Trail at Camelback Mountain reopens Friday.

The city of Phoenix shut down Cholla in 2020 after a 300-pound boulder injured a hiker. During the closure, the city says it fixed the trail to make it safer and added bathrooms, a bike rack, and a drinking fountain. They also added a spot where Uber and Lyft can drop you off, but the amount of parking remains limited.

On one side of the trail are homes and on the other side is the Phoenician, along with construction for new development. Hikers can park along Invergordon Road, the same designated parking spot before the closure.

“I’m very glad people will be able to access their trail again,” said Jes Dobbs, a regular at Camelback Mountain and founder of the company Camelback Culture. “I have deep apprehensions about public safety, particularly on Invergordon.”

The city tells ABC15 there are a little more than 70 spots along Invergordon Road. Data shows from 2019 to 2021, the number of people hiking Phoenix trails jumped by one million. Dobbs fears the problems that occurred at Cholla Trail before the closure will reoccur, only worse, now that it’s back open.

"There was a lot of frustration on all sides. People who want to access the trail are frustrated that they can't find a place to park. People who live here are frustrated by the fact that they can't even exit their driveway because they're being blocked. There was a lot of towing I'm sure that needed to happen, a lot of U-turns being pulled in the middle of the road to go try to get a space really quick," Dobbs said. "Not great behavior on pretty much all sides and that was pre-pandemic with way less people accessing the trail, way less people in the city and now we are basically going to deal with the same problem but magnified."

A spokesperson for the city of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, Adam Waltz, says the city doesn’t own the land where Cholla Trail sits before you reach the top of the mountain. He says that a portion of the land was given to them through an easement.

“We understand the residents’ concerns and we’ve been hearing those for years,” Waltz said. “Unfortunately, there was just not the tangible space to put a parking lot and that’s the reality of the project.”

"We will have rangers out there assisting drivers and trying to help the flow of traffic, assisting other law enforcement agencies throughout the weekend," he added. "But yes, I think the whole city is aware of this weekend and what the potential crowd may be."

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The city wants to remind hikers that Cholla Trail is challenging and to be prepared before hiking.