CAP Trail: Waddell/Lake Pleasant

Dogs Leashed

E-Bikes Unknown

The CAP map of this trail is here:
knowyourwaternews.com/wp-co…

This segment of the CAP trail is also part of the Maricopa Trail. So, if someone tracks and submits the Maricopa Trail from Lake Pleasant to Trilby, this one will be obsolete. Maricopa Trail signs guide the way on occasion.

Starting from the parking area on Beardsley CSR Road, the trail starts out easy, following a road along the Beardsley Canal. After crossing under Carefree Highway, the trail exits the road to the left and climbs up a series of switchbacks towards the Waddell Canal. Once the trail approaches the canal, one might think that the route would be an easy flat trail along the canal bank. Wrong. From here, the trail is a rocky roller coaster following the terrain up and down well below the canal.

After a few miles, the trail crosses the Old Carefree Highway and continues south for another mile or so. The trail then arrives at the confluence of the Waddell Canal and the main CAP canal at the point where the Agua Fria Siphon goes underground. Then it follows a road to the east until it ends at Lake Pleasant Rd. The Maricopa trail continues south along the road from here.