Scottsdale Celebrates Preserve Trail, Trailhead and Pioneers

Posted By Les Conklin on Nov 4, 2021

November 3, 2021

Scottsdale Celebrates Preserve Trailhead, Trail and Pioneers

By Les Conklin

They have been years in the making and decades in the dreaming but now is the time to celebrate two realities. Realities that resulted from the efforts of Scottsdale residents. The first of these realities is the Camino Campana Interpretive Trail. The second is the Pima Dynamite Trailhead.

Pima Dynamite Trailhead Dedication

On Saturday, November 13, 2021, at 9 a.m. the City of Scottsdale will officially dedicate the Pima Dynamite Trailhead of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. The event will include the dedication of the educational amphitheater in honor of the late Dr. Arthur W. DeCabooter, past president of Scottsdale Community College. Dr. DeCabooter was a consummate community leader and Scottsdale Preserve Pioneer. The Pima Dynamite Trailhead is located at 28777 North Pima Road in and north Scottsdale.

Camino Campana Interpretive Trail Grand Opening

On October 31, 2021, the City of Scottsdale held a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony of the Camino Campana Interpretive Trail. The trail is located at the Fraesfield Trailhead, located at 13400 E. Rio Verde Drive.

“Sam” Katherine Campana, environmentalist, former mayor of Scottsdale, Scottsdale Preserve pioneer. The name of the trail recognizes the environmental contributions of the Campana family.

Hawk is released to freedom near Camino Campana. In the photograph Sam Campana is flanked by her twin grandsons, Evan on the left and Connor on the right. Dr. Lee Ansel is behind Connor. Courtesy Lynne Janney Russell.

Pride Abounds

The Greater Pinnacle Peak Association -Friends of the Scenic Drive is proud of the role it has played in the creation of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, including the establishment of the Pima Dynamite Trailhead and the Fraesfield Trailhead. Formed in 1977 in the Pinnacle Peak area of what was then under the authority of Maricopa County, the organization’s founders under the leadership of Ralph and Nancy Knight advocated for the preservation of the natural environment, including the Sonoran Desert.

Past GPPA President Jane Rau co-founded the McDowell Sonoran Land Trust, which reorganized as the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. GPPA board members, including Howard Myers, Linda Whitehead and Les Conklin served on the City of Scottsdale McDowell Preserve Commission, with Myers and Whitehead serving as chairpersons during their terms.

Friends of the Scenic Drive founded and organized Cookout at the Ranch to promote and raise funds to support the preserve and other environmental causes. The event was held at MacDonald’s Ranch in north Scottsdale annually for fifteen consecutive years. A Peek at the Peak magazine (The Peak), created by GPPA in 1983, has served as an important vehicle for advocating for preservation and played an essential roles in convincing voters to support funding the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.

GPPA and Friends of the Scenic Drive have long advocated to the establishment of a link between Scottsdale’s Preserve and Scottsdale’s Scenic Drive. Time flies when you are having fun and I am sure this idea was proposed when Dr. DeCabooter was the chair of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission, and the author was a member. Things take time. Read the article “Two Great Ideas to Make Scottsdale Even More Scenic.”

Peak Article