Reviewed by: BullitTom ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Been riding this trail anywhere from 1 to 5x a week for nearly 10 yrs and it remains one of my favorites (though some more tech would be cool!). It has a great mix of scenery, singletrack, turns, climbs, decents...you get the picture. Best of all, it's still not that crowded and it's enjoyable by nearly any skill level...although it's recommended that beginners go with someone who a) knows the trail(s) and b) actually knows how to ride themself.

Which brings me to my gripe. I rode the trail again yesterday and saw, for the first time, actual ROCK STACKING that someone had done in order to fill in a "drop" in one rocky section between the Hawes Trail and the switchbacks. Huh? What's rock stacking, you ask? Making a section of trail easier for someone who shouldn't be there in the first place.

Now, in 10 yrs, I expect the trail to change. It has and so have I. The trail is probably twice as wide as it once was, and that's cool with me. But too often corners are cut, brakes are being drug, and now rock stacking.

If you can't ride something...WALK IT!!! Practice on your bike until you can ride that section, but DON'T F@#K it up for those of who can ride! The person(s) who rocked this section couldn't ride a simple rolling drop, and furthermore, couldn't see that there were 2 OTHER LINES that didn't require even hitting the drop/rut!!!

Peace out!

Recommended Route:
Any...it's all good out there! It IS still possible to get to the top of the Hawes trails by riding through the Las Sendas neighborhood. The gradual road climb thru the neighborhood makes for a nice warm up.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
South Mountain + Fun, but way too crowded. Pass Mountain loop at Usery is cool (clockwise). Just rode Twisted Sister in the Hawes area...not bad, serious lacking of "flow" once off the flat area, though.

Reviewed by: Ken , from Chandler, AZ

Summary:
Technical single track on every route inside Hawes. I highly reccommend getting to know the trail before doing a night riding out here. I do mostly night riders out here, and I've only seen one other guy named Joe on a Specilzd FSR. Respect the trail and don't litter, and pick a fight with anyone who does. This is probably one of the best trails in the east valley and I don't want to lose it. The south end of the trail has a mountain with a killer downhill, the north end has VERY technical swichbacks. You can see Power from there (called the mineshaft trail, for obvious reasons). Make fun of the roadies. If its your first time on this trail bring someone that knows it with you. Although its hard to get lost, its easy to get hurt in here. heck, contact me if you want. I don't think newbies will like this one too much, for them you should probably stick to TRW and desert classic on SM for a while until you got your balance, cornering, and control down.

Recommended Route:
Park at Albertsons or Bashas on Power and McDowell. Say hi to Darrin at the Wells Fargo inside Bashas, convince him to come ride with you. I like to ride from the parking lot down to recker rd. Go north on recker and go onto the TRW trail. The entrance will be on the left side of the road its marked by a couple of bushes with a whole lot of tire tracks between them. About where the road begins to curve. Take TRW trail up to Power, go North on Power, cross canal, Hawes entrance right behind guardrail. Do your favorite loop on Hawes, come back through TRW or ride to parking lot. About 2 hours.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Estrella Mountain (Pay trail), South Mountain, Mcdowell Mountain (Pay trail), Sqaw peak.

Reviewed by: hector , from afton, wy

Summary:
As we came down from wyoming, we knew nothing of the area, but found the directions provided here by other reviewers easy to follow. Although developers seem to be steadily climbing up the hill, we quickly left the construction area behind and found ourselves in pure Arizona desert. Pretty simple riding until the descent to power road. It then gets a little hairy in places, but overall just a fun, beautiful ride. The crushed granite on the trail wiped out my brother in law once, but that was it. Gorgeous desert views, little climbing from the Hawes to Power route. Just what we came to AZ hoping to experience.

Recommended Route:
We started on Hawes road and finished on Power. We read that you should park at Albertsons at McDowell and Power, but we spared oursevles the 3 mile ride on pavement and drove right to the trail head. We parked a truck on power at the end of the trail and spared ourselves the 2 mile ride back on pavement.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Go out to Usury Park at the end of Crismon road in Apache Junction. Lots of trails out there.

Reviewed by: NEF , from Flagstaff

Summary:
There is a singletrack paralleling Power Rd across from the parking lot. It's not a great singletrack by any means, but it's better than pavement. The singletrack will join Power Rd again just before the canal, then the trailhead is .5 miles ahead on the right, see other reviews.
Hawes area has a lot of good, short loops that can be joined together for a lot of riding for all ability levels, but beginners should be careful of the loose crushed granite which can get slippery on steep downhills. Lots of potential for speed. climbs are mostly short, but for some real fun climb the mine trail. It's a fun combination of steep, loose, and rutted terrain that makes for a real challenge. Don't do this on weekends because there are too many people coming down who don't expect anyone to be coming up. One last bit of advice, watch the semi-exposed ledge along the wash if you take the first right into Hawes loop, if your hungover things look a lot more narrow and it's spinning a bit...it's about a 25 ft drop down into the wash. Have fun. Clear it and beer it.

Recommended Route:
Park at corner of Power and McDowell.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
TRW trail on the way back, then ride pavement back to the parking lot.