See which motorized devices are permitted on multi-use trails.

Wash Trails Hours: Sunrise to Sunset

Queen Creek offers multi-use trails along the Queen Creek and Sonoqui washes. The trail system provides connectivity throughout Town and with our neighboring communities, including the San Tan Mountain Regional Park. The trails highlight the natural beauty of Queen Creek, and honors our equestrian and agricultural heritage! 

Queen Creek Wash Trail

The Queen Creek Wash Trail is approximately six miles. Public parking is available at Mansel Carter Oasis Park and Desert Mountain Park along with restrooms, playgrounds, ramadas, athletic fields and more! The Queen Creek Wash Trail weaves throughout Town following the banks of the Queen Creek Wash. The trail passes open space, farmland and a variety of residential communities. 

The Queen Creek Wash originates near the Town of Superior. Whitlow Dam was constructed east of Queen Valley in the late 1950s as a flood control measure to slow the water that flowed from the mountain range east of Superior. 

The Queen Creek Wash continues west from the Whitlow Dam where it intersects with the Central Arizona Project (CAP) Canal. A flood control structure at the CAP Canals restricts the flow into the wash.

During heavy rain events or when snow begins to melt to the east, the Queen Creek Wash can flow for several hours to several days through the Town. 

Both the Queen Creek and Sonoqui washes help prevent localized flooding during large storms and both flow into the East Maricopa Flood Control Channel, which ultimately flows into the Gila River.

Other certain authorized types of non-stormwater discharges into the washes can include well-site testing and agricultural irrigation, etc.

Sonoqui Wash Trail

The Sonoqui Wash Trail is currently 3.8 miles and weaves in and out of the rural desert landscape. Public parking is available at Horseshoe Park & Equestrian Centre. Through a partnership with Maricopa County, the Town of Queen Creek opened 1.3 miles of new trails at Horseshoe Park & Equestrian Centre, 20646 E. Riggs Road. The Sonoqui Wash Trail connects from Gilbert and is part of the Maricopa Trail, developed by Maricopa County. This regional trail system is  being developed in three phases. When completed, the entire trail system will cover an estimated 750 miles. Phase II of the Maricopa Trail plan, adopted in October 2003, encompasses the southeast valley and the connection to the San Tan Mountain Regional Park through the Sonoqui Wash. 

Birding was done on the Sonoqui Wash Trail and at Desert Mountain Park by the Arizona Field Ornithologists from December 2019 through December 2020. Every month had at least 20 species documented at eBird.org, the global bird database administered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The cumulative species total for Sonoqui Wash is 70, and for Queen Creek Wash is 65.

Trails at Horseshoe Park

1.3 miles of trail cover nearly 80 acres of the former landfill site. The trails are 10-feet-wide multi-use paths that connect to the Town's wash trail system, providing a productive use of the space that benefits the community.

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