Dreamy Draw Drive and Trails in Phoenix, Arizona

The Dreamy Draw is one of those roads that I always saw and knew about but never took the time to actually drive down the road.

Since Krystina and I were already in that part of town to hike North Mountain I decided it was finally time to see just where that road went! We pulled off the freeway, rolled down the windows, turned up the music and got ready for what I thought was going to be a nice drive through the mountains, maybe 5-10 miles long one way, boy was I in for a nasty little surprise.

The first thing you see as you pull into the park is a very nice, paved bike trail with a big post in the middle to keep you from driving up it, as soon as I saw the trail I made a mental note to come back with my bike and ride along that trail. About a quarter mile in we came to the most redundant structure I've seen in a long time, The Dreamy Draw Dam, again my imagination starts to run wild "Is there a lake or stream here in Phoenix I don't know about? Sweet a new place to fish!". A minute or two later as we rounded a curve I saw the back of the dam, a bone dry area filled with some dead looking trees. Not to be deterred, I chuckled at it a bit and kept driving, still wondering just where this little road went, a few hundred feet past the dam, I came to a parking lot and the end of the road. While I may have missed out on my drive, this recreation area has 4 trails running through the mountains that looked really fun. The length of the trails ranged from 1.5-10.8 miles one way, way to long to start hiking in the middle of the afternoon. I plan on coming back to the Dreamy Draw in a month or two once it cools down just a bit more with my bike to tackle a few of the trails and give a much more detailed description of the park itself.

Directions : From anywhere in Phoenix, head along the I-10 Freeway towards Phoenix International Airport until you reach SR-51. Take SR-51 Northbound to the Northern Ave exit and turn right (East). This will take you right into the Dreamy Draw recreation area.