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Safety

Heat safety

Desert heat is the thing most likely to turn a good hike into a rescue. Here’s how this site reads it, and what the City of Phoenix asks of hikers.

Last updated September 24, 2026

In an emergency, call 911. The City of Phoenix says more than 200 hikers are rescued from its desert and mountain parks every year (City of Phoenix).

What the heat risk levels mean

  • Low heat risk: it’s under 90°F in daylight, with at least three hours to go. Good to hike.
  • Moderate heat risk: there’s a window, but it’s short or later. Start early, finish early, and pick a shorter hike if you need to.
  • High heat risk: nothing under 90°F is left today.

The panel also prints the National Weather Service HeatRisk number, 0 to 4. It’s the weather service’s own scale, separate from ours: ours is about the hours under 90°F at the trailhead, so a hot afternoon can be high heat risk on a HeatRisk 1 day. At HeatRisk 3 and 4, heat affects anyone without cooling and water, not just people who are sensitive to it.

How hike times are estimated

Each hike’s time is estimated at 3 miles an hour plus 30 minutes for every 1,000 feet of climbing, a standard hiking rule. Your own pace may be faster or slower. Each hike page shows its time next to sunset, and when to go is up to you.

City of Phoenix rules

  • Extreme Heat Warning closures. When the Weather Service issues an Extreme Heat Warning, the City closes these trails from 8am to 5pm: Camelback’s Echo Canyon and Cholla trails, the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail “and associated trails,” and at South Mountain the Holbert, Mormon and Hau’pal Loop trails and the National Trail from Pima Canyon (City of Phoenix). The site marks these closures automatically.
  • Dogs. No dogs on City trails when it’s over 100°F (City of Phoenix), and never on Camelback’s trails (City of Phoenix) or the Piestewa Peak Summit Trail (City of Phoenix).
  • In 2024 the City had 45 days of heat-warning closures between May 1 and October 13 (City of Phoenix).

Before you go

From the City’s Take a Hike. Do it Right. checklist:

  • Watch the weather. Hike when it’s cool: early mornings and evenings.
  • Wear proper shoes and clothing, a hat and sunscreen.
  • Hydrate before you go, and bring more water than you think you need. Turn back before you’ve drunk it all.
  • Carry a phone.

This site can be wrong

Forecasts miss, and trail conditions change faster than any page. Use this as a starting point, check the land manager’s page linked on each hike, and turn around when your body says to. The full disclaimer is in the terms.