To date, I have provided difficulty ratings only for hikes within the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. I used as a basis for the rating the key provided on the maps produced by the City of Scottsdale. The trail difficulty key there, however, relates to trails that are in my mind unclearly defined, and in a couple of cases I have differed in my opinion of the rating by one step harder or easier. I think this may be because the hike I have defined is not exactly the hike being defined by the city.
Roughly speaking, the hike levels correspond to the following trail descriptions:
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Easiest | Essentially flat trail Less than 2 miles Paved or fine dirt trail |
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Easy | Less than 500-foot elevation gain Under 5 miles Relatively level trail, involving no scrambling |
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Moderate | 500 – 1,000-foot elevation gain Under 5 miles Trail with loose and embedded rocks, involving no scrambling |
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Moderately Difficult | 1,000 – 1,200-foot elevation gain 5 – 6 miles Small portions over 10% grade Trail with loose and embedded rocks, scrambling unusual but possible |
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Difficult | 1,200 – 1,500-foot elevation gain 6 – 10 miles Longer portions over 10% grade Trail with loose and embedded rocks, some scrambling possible |
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Extremely Difficult | More than 1,500-foot elevation gain More than 10 miles Portions more than 15% grade Trail with loose and embedded rocks, some scrambling possible |