The city of Phoenix’s Parks & Recreation Committee voted unanimously last week to approve a proposal presented by the Phoenix Fire Department to extend current trail closure hours and dates of the Camelback Mountain trail and Piestewa Peak trails during excessive heat warnings.

The proposal, which was presented to the subcommittee at city hall, recommended closure hours be extended from the current 11 a.m.-5 p.m. hours to 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on days the National Weather Service issues excessive heat warnings. The proposal also included that these restrictions be enforced year-round rather than the previous May-September dates.

Parks & Recreation Department spokesperson Adam Waltz said these changes will go into effect immediately.

“Tonight the Parks Department voted unanimously to approve the changes suggested by the fire department. Those suggested changes go into effect immediately, so trails at Camelback Mountain, and Piestewa Peak will be closed 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on days the National Weather Services issues an excessive heat warning. This now also covers any excessive heat warning in the entire year,” said Waltz.

The decision by the committee came following a detailed presentation by the Phoenix Fire Department outlining the number of rescues the department has conducted since the conception
of the initial pilot program back in 2021.

According to Phoenix Fire Department Chief Mark Gonzales, this year has seen an improvement in the numbers of rescues conducted on the two mountains following the initial closure program, however, according to Gonzales a large number of rescues are still taking place outside the closure hours.

“In 2022 we were able to see the positive results of the initial pilot program of the temporary closures of 11 a.m.-5 p.m. In 2023 so far we are continuing to trend down in the right direction for our community and our firefighters,” said Gonzales. “However, during the hours between 8 a.m.-6 p.m. we see the highest volume of rescues on Camelback Mountain and Piestewa Peak.”

Gonzales also emphasized the risk and physical burden that many firefighters endure when conducting rescues during the hottest temperatures of the day.

“As I’ve said before the firefighters schedule is a 24 hour day meaning the same crew will respond to multiple mountain rescues, and every other type of emergency, during that 24 hour
period.”

Many Phoenix area hikers did voice their displeasure with the approved proposal at the meeting citing that the closures of the two mountain trails will not solve the problem of mountain rescues.

 “The frustrating thing to the locals is that we feel a lot of those rescues are coming from out-of-towners," said Jess Dobbs, a Phoenix resident and avid hiker. "I’ve been on the mountains in April, in 85 degree weather, and seen out-of-towners go down.”

Dobbs continued, “We can’t close out trails down enough to protect everybody. We live in the desert and people need to take that seriously.”

Moving forward, the city of Phoenix and Phoenix Fire Department will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments as necessary, but as for now the approved measures will go into
effect immediately and stay in place all year long for the two mountain trails.