Round Trip Distance: 2.2 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 1604 - 1973 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 2 hrs.
Trailhead: Kiwanis
Fee: none
Attractions: petroglyphs
The Kiwanis Trail is located in South Mountain Park in Phoenix, Arizona. From the bottom the trail begins at a parking area near the Las Lomitas trail where it travels up a canyon to the Summit Road and comes to an end at a connection with the Maricopa National Trail. As the trail travels up the draw it passes at least 3 or 4 places where petroglyphs can be seen on nearby boulders.
To get to the trailhead find your way to the parks main entrance at 10919 S. Central Drive and proceed past the Ranger Station to the first 4-way intersection and turn left following Piedras Dr. to the Kiwanis trailhead. We submitted the trailhead to Google Maps so by the time you read this you should be able to enter the name of the trailhead in that app for turn by turn directions.
The trail is rocky and uneven but otherwise easy enough to hike. Sturdy shoes, of course, will make it easier on your feet.
A short distance up the trail, right before a rockwall dam built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's, there are some petroglyphs on a few of the boulders near the bottom of the wash.
These are a few of the better ones that include a handprint, a shield, and either another shield or head.
Further up the canyon on a light brown boulder there are a few more petroglyphs that are worth noticing.
The place where the boulder sits beside the wash makes these a little awkward to get a closeup look.
Even further up the trail near mile post 0.69 there is a rocky outcrop where petroglyphs can be found within a few yards of the trail on both sides.
This spiral is easy enough to see but it's harder to make out everything else.
At the top of the little canyon the trail crosses the Summit Road to a junction with the National trail and comes to an end.
