Three hiking trails closed by City of Phoenix due to extreme heat

The City of Phoenix closes certain hiking trails during periods of extreme heat to ensure visitor safety. Specifically on days when the National Weather Service issues an extreme heat warning, three trails at South Mountain Park/ Preserve are restricted: Camelback Mountain’s Echo Canyon and Cholla trails, Piestewa Peak Summit Trail and associated trails in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve.

Phoenix city code prohibits entering park areas closed to public use. Doing so could be a criminal offense. Violating the ordinance is considered a class 1 misdemeanor and subject to fines and community service hours.

First responders, including firefighters, face increased risks when responding to rescues on trails during high temperatures.

Recently, a family of 11, including six children, walked past three closed trail signs and had to be rescued off South Mountain. The decision was made not to fine them, and firefighters said they don’t want to discourage people from calling for help if they fear they will be fined.

Captain Rob McDade of the Phoenix Fire Department joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the closed trails and extreme heat.

McDade shared some insight into when they see the most calls for rescues from these hiking trails and what they can entail.

“In the summer we see unfortunately too many of these happen so, again we average a couple hundred of these a year. Some of them are minimal, we walk them down. Some of them we airlift them off with a helicopter and we send our folks up there in very, very hot temperatures,” McDade said.

When it comes to finding activities to do during extreme heat warnings, McDade gave a few options along with the sentiment of staying safe.

“Use the stairwell in your building if you work downtown, go to the gym, it’s a great time to go to the movies. We want to encourage recreation, right,” McDade said.