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Scorpion Point

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SCORPION POINT Tarantula Trail "bear" overlooks Cone Mountain Scorpion Point doesn’t rise particularly high over the boulder-strewn flats of the far west sector of Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Preserve.   Yet, even without cloud-scraping height, the weather-worn mound provides a platform for viewing a sprawling desert landscape and   a concentrated maze of tightly-woven trails favored by mountain bikers for their challenging turns and narrow passages. Sweeping mountain views from Scorpion Point Scorpion Point sits at the core of a vast field of granite boulders laid out in jumbled piles, fortress-like walls and isolated pinnacles.   Some have been shaped into bizarre, often amusing forms by millions of years of exposure and erosion.   Watch for blind curves and oncoming traffic Easily accessible by either the Brown’s Ranch or Pima Dynamite trailheads, a hike to the point unspools in an environment of rich botanical diversity and an outdoor museum of sorts with natur...

Corral Loop

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CORRAL LOOP   McDowell Sonoran Preserve Brown's Mountain seen from Brown's Ranch Road A mile and a half north of the busy Brown’s Ranch trailhead, a gnarled mesquite tree grows through and around the crumbling walls of concrete feed trough.   Nearby, tangled barbed wire, weather-worn and clinging tenuously to wood posts, surrounds a conglomerate of disintegrating foundations and rusty metal scraps.   Saguaros tower over the Corral Trail The relics are what remains of Brown’s Ranch.   Established in 1916, the 44,000 acre operation ran cattle in the mountainous desert space before being abandoned in mid-century.   The historic site, which is now part of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, is the key attraction on the Corral Trail in the popular Scottsdale recreation hub. Yuccas sway above Brown's Ranch Road Desert plants grow among the ruins of Brown's Ranch The ranch site can be reached by following Brown’s Ranch Road north to the Corral Trail.   The 2.3-mile pat...