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- Usery Mountain Regional Park
The Usery Mountain Regional Park, located in Mesa, Arizona, managed by the Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department, offers its visitors a wide range of natural sights, outdoor recreational opportunities, and engaging activities for all ages and interests.
Bordered by the Tonto National Forest to the north, the Usery Mountain Regional Park in the East Phoenix Valley borders and is close to multiple mountainous areas. The park’s namesake Usery Mountains to the direct northwest and situated northwest of the park across the Salt River, the McDowell Mountains. The Goldfield Mountain range to the north, northwest, and the Superstition Mountains to the east.
Mesa’s Usery Mountain Regional Park comprises 3600 acres of desert recreational usage space developed into a park in 1967. This Maricopa County Park attracts patrons from all over the globe each year. Many travelers come to enjoy the sunshine and beautiful weather of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert during the warmer than most state’s winter months.
Activities at Usery Mountain Regional Park
The Usery Mountain Regional Park has been a 365 days-a-year source for a multitude of Arizona outdoor and nature activities to East Valley locals and out of towners for over four decades. Notable recreational activities include archery, biking, camping, hiking, horseback riding, outdoor fitness, picnicking, park hosted programs and events, radio-controlled model airplane flying, and stargazing.
- Archery – Usery Mountain Regional Park is the only Maricopa County Park to offer an archery range and is considered the only archery range in Arizona with a “Five Star” rating. The range has six different archery courses, with almost 100 total targets. There are over 30 tournaments hosted at Usery Mountain Regional Park’s Archery Range for local, state and national archery clubs.
- Biking – Mountain Bikers have options at Usery Mountain Regional Park with trails allowing for different skill level spectra of flat and smooth to elevated and rocky. Don’t forget your water and to stop and check out the incredible vistas now and again!
- Camping – The campground at Usery Mountain Regional Park has seventy-three separate campsites. Each with an abundance of amenities. A 45″ RV sized parking area, hook-ups for electric and water, BBQ grill, fire ring, and picnic table. A dump station, flush toilet restrooms, and showers also available at the campground.
- Hiking – Plenty of space to roam at Usery Mountain Regional Park with several miles of varying types of hiking trails. Including two Hiking Only trails Vista and Wind Cave.
- Horseback Riding – Bring your pony to the park and ride the many miles of multi-use trails, most that include equines. A horse staging area is also accessible.
- Outdoor Fitness – A highly appealing, relatively new feature to the Usery Mountain Regional Park as of 2015, an outdoor fitness station near the Merkle Trailhead grants those looking for a gym type workout and fresh air all at the same time. The shaded 2400 square foot area contains various types of fitness equipment meant for the enjoyment of a mix of ages and fitness levels.
- Picnicking – Who doesn’t love a good picnic? No, not a ruined picnic when the dog pees on your picnic basket! (Remember National Lampoon’s Vacation movie circa the early 80s?) Insert giggle here. Day-Use Picnic Areas and Group Picnic Areas, are both at Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa, AZ. Large picnic ramada reservations are available for gatherings and parties. Otherwise, availability is first-come, first-served for individual and group picnic areas. Picnic areas have restrooms, grills, drinking water, and tables.
- Programs, Events & Itineraries – The Maricopa County Regional Parks Department has an abundance of programs, events, and itineraries at the Usery Mountain Regional Park. The Programs and Events are typically led by the Park Ranger starting in the Nature Center such as “Meet “Elvis” the Kingsnake!”, “All About Scorpions” and “Desert Mythbusters.” The park has also drawn up some park activity itineraries for guests, designed to accommodate the length of time planned to spend at the park and physical exertion desired.
- Radio Controlled Model Airplanes – A designated model airplane flying site with multiple covered ramadas and paved runway also found at the Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa. The Arizona Model Aviators club manages the flight field area.
- Stargazing –Â Stargazing For Everyone, LLCÂ brings their telescopes and stargazing programs to the Maricopa County Park System, including Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa, AZ. Night Sky Adventures allows for learning and viewing the faraway moon, planets, colorful star clusters, and galaxies up close.
Trails at Usery Mountain Regional Park
Mesa, Arizona’s Usery Mountain Regional Park, is home to a plethora of hiking and multi-use trails with a diverse array of distances, surfaces, grades, obstacles, and difficulty ratings. Twenty trails total twenty-nine miles. There is sure to be a trail for everyone at Usery Mountain Regional Park with each trail ranging from 0.2 miles to over 7 miles from easy to difficult for hiking, biking, and horseback riding.
One of the most popular and notable trails at Usery Mountain Regional Park is Wind Cave Trail. This hiking-only, One-and-a-half mile trail rated as difficult allows hikers a trek up the mountain’s face to its unique focal point, The Wind Cave. Locals have referred to the Usery Pass Mountain as “Scarface” since Wind Cave gives the appearance of a scar on the mountain’s south-facing front seen from miles away.
Usery Mountain Regional Park Nature Center
The Usery Mountain Regional Park Nature Center takes pride in its energy-efficient and sustainable, nature compatible design created to preserve wildlife grounds and not disturb the natural plant life and surrounding undeveloped landscapes. The Nature Center has incorporated numerous green features into its facility, including the roof, walls, and windows that meet or exceed green initiative energy standards. Also, efforts to recycle and repurpose building materials and low-flow toilets to conserve water usage.
There are opportunities for the public to rent out specific areas of the Nature Center at Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa. Classrooms, patios, and amphitheaters for a mixture of uses, including but not limited to group gatherings, special events, family reunions, corporate functions, and scout meetings—rental fees and capacity limit information obtained by contacting the park supervisor.
Usery Mountain Regional Park Location, Hours & Fees
Usery Mountain Regional Park’s main entrance to park trails, camping and facilities is in northeast Mesa off of N Ellsworth Road to the east. North Ellsworth Road runs north and south through the Usery Mountains bordering the park and turns into Usery Pass Road, allowing access to some of the park’s hiking trails along the route.
The Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa, AZ, is open to local and out-of-town visitors year-round. Park hours were modified in the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19 to Sunday through Saturday from 5 am to 8 pm. The Nature Center also closed because of COVID-19, as well as parking restrictions to the Wind Cave Trailhead. When organizing your trip, be sure to confirm hours and availability at the park’s website or call directly.
There are a variety of admission fees to Usery Mountain Regional Park depending on vehicle type, park usage, and length of time. Discounts offered to Maricopa County Parks Annual Pass purchasers, including further discounts to Senior and Disabled Veteran Annual Pass holders. Camping fees differ between individual developed campsites and group campsites. Check out the full list of park fees at the Maricopa County Park Fee webpage.
Visit Usery Mountain Regional Park in Mesa, Arizona!
If you’re planning an Arizona outdoor day trip, hiking adventure, mountain bike excursion, horseback ride, picnic, or a pleasant visit to one of Greater Phoenix’s parks, Mesa’s Usery Mountain Regional Park might be an attractive destination to consider.
Usery Mountain Regional Park
3939 N Usery Pass Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85207
