3.5 miles

Distance

138 ft

Climb

-935 ft

Descent

00:37:59

Avg time

National Details

Activities
- Mountain Bike
- Hike
- Trail Running
- Horse
Riding Area

South Mountain Preserve
Phoenix, Arizona
Difficulty Rating

Black Diamond rate
Voted Difficulty

Black Diamond (5 votes)
Hiking SAC Scale

T3 Demanding Mountain Hiking
Trail Type

Singletrack
Direction

Both Directions
Climb Difficulty

Double Black Diamond
Physical Rating

Extreme
Trail Visibility

Always easy to follow
Dogs Allowed

Yes
eBike Allowed

No
Global Ranking
#1218 in Mountain Biking [+]
- #2956 in Trail Running
- #3390 in Hiking
Local Popularity
85 in Mountain Biking [+]
- 90 in Trail Running
- 70 in Hiking
- 5 in Horseback
Land Manager

City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation

This trail has huge boulders and multiple drops in succession. A lot of the trail is ground out to be narrow between the rocks. It is a challenge riding both up and down it. That said, it is a fun challenge. Very unique experience here in Phoenix to try and no dab as you find your best lines.

Local Trail Association

Gravity Riders Organization of Arizona
Arizona Trail Association
Mountain Bike Association of Arizona
Please consider joining or donating to the local trail association to support
trail development & maintenance.
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Traditionally Indigenous Territory

More Stats for National bike trail trail

Altitude change

-797 ft
Altitude min

1,559 ft
Altitude max

2,392 ft
Altitude start

2,357 ft
Altitude end

1,558 ft
Grade

-4.3%
Grade max

-31.4%
Grade min

21%
Distance climb

2,418 ft
Distance down

3 miles
Distance flat

1,860 ft
Avg time

00:37:59
Avg reverse time

01:11:16
view trail stats

Status:

on Dec 11, 2021

Variable

Avg: 4.6 (55 votes)

Your vote: 0

view (3,544)

Directions to national-14939 trailhead (33.342880, -112.044250)

update trails status or condition

National Trail Reports

status	date	description
	Dec 11, 2021 @ 6:10pm Dec 11, 2021
	Sep 30, 2021 @ 10:06am Sep 30, 2021	Did the mormon-national loop and both are definitely more chunky than they were before the rains we got this summer. Still fun!
	Jul 17, 2021 @ 11:36am Jul 17, 2021	Trail was in good shape. some washes were a little sandy, but not bad at all.
	Mar 14, 2021 @ 10:58am Mar 14, 2021
	Feb 6, 2021 @ 3:18pm Feb 6, 2021

view all reports »

Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

Past Week

8 rides
17 miles avg distance

6 Months

385 rides
15 miles avg distance

All

3,155 rides

Technical Trail Features (TTF)

The Waterfall
Rock Face

Photos

750 |

Aug 11, 2017 @ 5:34am

Aug 11, 2017

1,921 |

Aug 11, 2017 @ 5:24am

Aug 11, 2017

| 2 comments

1,392 |

Aug 8, 2017 @ 12:08pm

Aug 8, 2017

995 |

Feb 9, 2017 @ 1:05pm

Feb 9, 2017

Routes with this trail

title	distance
SoMo Rollingpin	10 miles
Naty-Eliminator-DC	25 miles
National Loop	12 miles
Corona de Javelina	15 miles

6 Reviews & Comments

Score Time

twowheeledwanderer (Feb 4, 2020 at 10:37)

This is one of the best trails in Phoenix! It's got everything from techy rock gardens to fast flow, alt-lines, drops, and steep climbs. Most people ride this section as an out-and-back or climb up Mormon trail and then link back into National. I wrote a more in-depth article about the National Trail if you want to check it out here! twowheeledwanderer.com/posts/the-national-trail-phoenix-arizona

[Reply]

SlideReady

(Jan 9, 2021 at 8:20)

Favorite trail in Phoenix/Mesa area so far. Challenging with some tech sections but most of them have several different lines to make it smoother or sketchier. A few quick techy climbs even on the DH that will improve your skills.

[Reply]

Ksyoung

(Jan 19, 2021 at 9:59)

I'm not an AZ native but compared to other black diamonds I've ridden in the valley I'd say this is more of a double black. Definitely lots of double black features and sections. Fun trail, very technical and challenging. I'm okay admitting I did a fair amount of hike a bike.

[Reply]

alexmt13 (Mar 13, 2021 at 13:16)

This section of national is by far the most popular to ride. I’d say this section of national is a black diamond trail with a few double black features. The trail isnt rated a double black because the double black features have bypasses or are easily walkable.that being said this trail is fairly technical. You need some good skill and effort to get up to
national and ride down it.

[Reply]

RunningFish (May 5, 2021 at 20:03)

National Trail is a rocky and rowdy trail located at south mountain. This trial is a local favorite with many features that make it unique. This trail rides over and next to large boulders. My favorite aspect about this trail is how it flows. When riding this trail you are either riding very rocky and bumpy sections or hard packed smooth single track. This combination of smooth and rocky makes for a very fun trail with many challenging features. This trail is famous for a feature called the waterfall. This feature is basically a massive pile of rocks that looks like a waterfall. people all around the country come to the south mountain to ride the waterfall and get down it. The scenery of this trail is unique, you can see the city of phoenix and the sky harbor airport, but you are also surrounded by mountains and boulders, this gives this trail a very nice scenery.

[Reply]

jaxonr (Dec 21, 2021 at 19:06)

With the right climbing/trial skills it's a fun cleanable climb. Very much on the steep side though. Recommended for riders who love the climb with tricky features.

I wish I could've ridden it downhill. We met a lot of mtber's and they were all going the downhill way. Looked super fun. I agree with the other comment- a good amount of black and blue features with 2 or so double black features.
Beautiful views. Lots of hikers--it's good to yield to hikers, keep the vibe courteous and frieldly