I love Squaw Peak,
IIRC, it is the tallest peak within the greater
Phoenix area. It resides in the eastern portion of the
Phoenix Mountains Preserve and is
off-limits to anything but
hikers. Horses and Mountain bikes are not allowed. How do I know this? I was
accosted by
yuppies one day when I tried to ride up it a few years ago. {Off the record] I have ridden down Squaw Peak. So a big middle finger to the yuppies in their
Beemers Did it during a full moon in the middle of the night, which is my favorite time to ride. I hiked up the backside from the {Dreamy Draw} side, and rode from the top down. What a rush.
Squaw Peak is also the subject of a heated debate between the local government and the Native American nations in Arizona. You see, squaw loosely translates to 'whore', so I can certainly understand why they would want it changed. The only proposed name that I have ever heard is "Iron Mountain". I guess that's better than "Big hill that can actually see over the smog".