The regulars know the drill. Park before 6 a.m., beat the heat, take Cholla because the grade is more forgiving on the knees and there's a rideshare drop-off if the lot on Invergordon fills. That routine breaks starting August 17. The City of Phoenix is closing the Cholla Trailhead, on Invergordon Road near 66th Street and just north of Chaparral Road, for the next twelve days. Crews with Phoenix Water Services are digging a new sewer line along Cholla Lane and decommissioning the old one that runs south of the road, part of what the city has named the Cholla Sewer Diversion and Abandonment Project. Anyone with a question can call 602-235-2488. The trail reopens August 28.
None of that sounds like it should matter to a Paradise Valley resident who has never set foot on Cholla. It does, and here's why.
The Trail That's Left Runs Through Your Backyard
Camelback Mountain has exactly two ways to the summit, and they sit on opposite sides of the same rock for a reason. Cholla approaches from the east, the Scottsdale side, a longer and more gradual climb along the spine of the camel's back. Echo Canyon approaches from the west, and its trailhead address is 4925 E. McDonald Drive, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253. That is not a Phoenix address with a Paradise Valley view. It is Paradise Valley.
For the next two weeks, Echo Canyon is the only door open. Every hiker who would normally choose the gentler Cholla grade, every out-of-town visitor pointed at Camelback by a hotel concierge, every fitness group doing hill repeats before work, funnels onto McDonald Drive and into the neighborhood streets around it. The mountain isn't losing a trail so much as it's losing its Scottsdale-facing entrance and pushing all of its foot traffic onto the Paradise Valley side for the better part of a month.
If you live anywhere near that trailhead, the next two weeks will feel different before you've read a single sign about sewer construction. More cars circling for street parking. More idling near McDonald and Tatum, which the city already prohibits and tickets. More people at the gate at the exact same hour you usually have it to yourself.
Two Trails, Two Very Different Personalities
The reason this matters beyond parking is that Cholla and Echo Canyon are not interchangeable versions of the same hike. They ask different things of a hiker's body and patience.
| Cholla Trail | Echo Canyon Trail | |
|---|---|---|
| Approach side | East, Scottsdale-facing | West, Paradise Valley-facing |
| Typical round trip | Around 1.5 hours for a fit hiker | About an hour for regulars |
| Character | Longer, steadier grade, exposed with little shade in its upper third | Shorter, steeper, boulder sections aided by handrails |
| Parking | No trailhead lot, roadside parallel spots on Invergordon, dedicated rideshare drop-off | Trailhead lot with benches and a small shade canopy, but it fills |
| Dogs | Prohibited | Prohibited |
That last row isn't a footnote. Dogs are barred on every Camelback trail year round, a fact worth knowing before anyone tries to work a closure-week walk around it.
Both trailheads got restroom and drinking-fountain upgrades years ago, Cholla as part of a 2022 trailhead realignment and Echo Canyon as a longer-standing fixture, so nobody loses access to water or a bathroom during the closure. What changes is capacity to park a car. Cholla was rebuilt around roadside parking and marked rideshare pickup because there was never room for a lot. Echo Canyon has an actual lot, and city guidance already notes it typically fills by late morning on weekdays and stays full all day on weekends during the busy season. This is August, so heat usually keeps that pressure down, but a mountain with one entrance instead of two changes that math regardless of season.
What Changes for You This Week
If Camelback is part of your regular week, whether that means the full summit push or just a loop around Bobby's Rock, a few adjustments will save you a wasted trip.
- Go earlier than usual. The gate at Echo Canyon closes once the lot is full, and with Cholla's regulars added to the mix, that threshold will arrive sooner than it normally does.
- Don't idle on McDonald Drive or Tatum Boulevard waiting for a spot to open. The city tickets for this specifically, closure or not.
- If you just want the workout without the summit, Bobby's Rock Trail is still there. It branches off Echo Canyon shortly after the trailhead, loops about two-tenths of a mile around a large sandstone formation, and gains only about 200 feet, with a solid view back over Paradise Valley and the Phoenix Mountains Preserve. It's a reasonable substitute if the main trail looks like a line at security.
- Leave the dog at home. Both trails prohibit them year round, closure or not, and rangers do check.
- Expect the harder trail by default. Echo Canyon's boulder sections and handrail-aided cruxes make it the steeper, more technical climb of the two. If your habit has been Cholla because it's the friendlier grade, plan for a tougher morning, not an easier one.
After August 28
The trail reopens on schedule if the project stays on track, and the mountain goes back to being two doors instead of one. What this closure exposes, even briefly, is how much of Camelback's character depends on which side you approach from. Cholla belongs to the Scottsdale side of the mountain and asks for patience over a longer grade. Echo Canyon belongs to Paradise Valley and asks for grip strength and an early alarm. For twelve days in August, everyone gets the Paradise Valley version, whether they meant to sign up for it or not.
It's a small window, but it's the kind of detail that tells you something about how this particular corner of the Valley actually functions day to day, not how it photographs. If you're the type who notices which side of the mountain a hiking group came from, or you're weighing what it actually means to live within walking distance of a trailhead this well known, that's exactly the kind of ground-level read Templeton Walker brings to Paradise Valley. When the conversation moves from trail conditions to real estate, request a private consultation and we'll talk specifics, not brochure copy.
