When Brown's Ranch Reopens, Troon North's Usual Hike Will Start Somewhere New

Brown's Ranch Trailhead at 30301 N. Alma School Parkway sits about 1.25 miles north of Alma School and Dynamite. It is closed for a $1,165,599 upgrade paid for by the 2004 Preservation Sales Tax. The City of Scottsdale listed July 13, 2026 as the expected start date and expects to finish in fall 2026. The city's McDowell Sonoran Preserve page still lists the trailhead as closed. It says the grand reopening is "anticipated for late October," with no confirmed day.

Part of the budget goes to a new trail dispersal area and the rerouting of five trail segments. When the gate reopens, your usual loop will leave from a trailhead that was redesigned to send people in more directions than before.

What the upgrade actually changes

The city's Brown's Ranch Trailhead Improvements page lists three objectives:

• A refined parking-lot design for better durability, drainage and circulation
• Lighting and roofing on the trailhead building for comfort and safety
• A new trail dispersal area, with five trail segments rerouted to reduce congestion while keeping sensitive areas protected

The first two are standard maintenance. The third changes how a morning on the trails begins. A dispersal area exists to spread hikers, riders and equestrians across several paths before they reach the main trails, and the city says it is being built "to help reduce congestion." The project page includes aerial renderings of the dispersal area with concrete seat walls. It does not say which five segments are being rerouted.

The page also carries a "Last Updated" date of August 5, 2026. Until the city posts a reopening day, that page and the Preserve homepage are the places to check.

Why congestion here affects so much of the Preserve

The McDowell Sonoran Conservancy calls Brown's Ranch "the major access point to the vast network of trails in the area." It is the starting point for Granite Mountain, Cholla Mountain, Brown's Mountain, Balanced Rock and Cathedral Rock. It also has more amenities than most trailheads: parking, restrooms, shade ramadas, interpretive signage, drinking water, horse trailer parking, hitching rails, a water trough, and the accessible Jane Rau Interpretive Nature Trail.

With that many destinations and that many kinds of users sharing one parking lot, the start of the trails is the natural bottleneck. That explains why the city spent part of the budget on how people leave the trailhead, not just on the trailhead itself. The surrounding trail names stay the same. The city's North/Central Preserve trail map labels Jane Rau and Latigo near Brown's Ranch, and that map is the one to take with you while the new layout is unfamiliar.

Until then: four trailheads, and only one with drinking water

While Brown's Ranch is closed, the city does not allow parking on nearby streets or in nearby neighborhoods. It points visitors to four other trailheads, and its notes flag three of the four as having no drinking water.

Pima-Dynamite is the stand-in that most resembles Brown's Ranch, and its Oct. 24 Conservancy hike shows why. The route uses the Latigo trail, which the city map also labels near Brown's Ranch and which the Conservancy uses in its first big Brown's Ranch loop in November. You can hike part of the network you are waiting for from a trailhead that is open now.

For Tom's Thumb, Fraesfield or Granite Mountain, carry all the water you will need. The city's Preserve guidance says gates open about 30 minutes before sunrise. It advises turning around when half your water is gone, and leaving dogs at home if the temperature will top 90 degrees during your outing.

The November calendar is planned around the trailhead

The best evidence of what the reopened trailhead is meant to do is the Conservancy's November schedule. Brown's Ranch is the starting point for almost every week of the month, and several outings are about the trails and the site's history, not just the mileage.

• Nov. 7, 9 to 11 a.m.: Sonoran Desert Discovery, Educational Walk
• Nov. 8, 1 to 4:30 p.m.: Women's Bike Ride
• Nov. 9, 8 to 11 a.m.: Introduction to Preserve Trails Hike
• Nov. 10, 8 to 11 a.m.: Brown's Mountain, Cone Mountain, Latigo Loop Hike
• Nov. 12, 9 to 11 a.m.: Desert Surfaces, Educational Walk
• Nov. 14, 8 to 10:30 a.m.: Brown's Ranch Homestead, Educational Hike
• Nov. 14, 9 to 11 a.m.: Nature's Medicine Cabinet, Educational Walk
• Nov. 17, 9 to 10:30 a.m.: Brown's Ranch: The Real Story, Educational Walk
• Nov. 19, 9 to 11 a.m.: Walk Like a Tortoise, Educational Walk
• Nov. 21, 9 to 10:30 a.m.: A Meditation Walk
• Nov. 22, 9 a.m. to noon: Trailside Bike Repair Basics

The Nov. 9 introductory hike and the Nov. 10 loop are the most useful for anyone relearning the area after the reroutes. The Conservancy's route for the Nov. 10 loop names Upper Ranch, Wrangler, Brown's Mountain, Cone Mountain and Latigo. The Brown's Ranch outings continue into winter with the Mistletoe and Holly Educational Hike on Dec. 20.

A full calendar shows what the Conservancy expects. It does not mean the gate is open. The city's pages still describe the trailhead as closed, so check the city before driving up Alma School Parkway, and sign up through the Conservancy's events calendar for any outing you plan to join.

This weekend, closer to home

Before the trails shift north again, Preserve Month offers a closer option. October is Preserve Month in Scottsdale, marking a preserve the city has protected since 1994 that now covers more than 30,500 acres. Eek at the Peak runs at Pinnacle Peak Park on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 9 to 11 a.m. The city lists a costume contest, a scavenger hunt, AZ Bat Rescue, nature stations, book giveaways and a DIY craft. All month, families can also pick up a youth Exploration Journal at any trailhead and collect a commemorative Preserve Month sticker.

Saturday morning works for both. The Pima-Dynamite Latigo hike starts at 8 a.m., and Pinnacle Peak Park opens its Halloween program at 9.

If you're planning hikes from home this fall, or want to talk through which parts of Troon North sit closest to the trailheads you use most, I'm glad to help. Shannon Pulsifer follows the Preserve calendar alongside the market. Let's Connect.