New rating system for Valley hiking trails

Beware the “double black diamond” trails. 

The City of Phoenix and surrounding towns including Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe and Fountain Hills, have adopted a new system of coding trail difficulty levels to better aid hikers in selecting routes that best match their abilities.

The system uses six color-coded symbols similar to those used for ski runs. They are:

WHITE DOT: easiest, flat, barrier-free, max 5% grade

GREEN DOT: easy, mostly smooth & wide dirt trails, max 10% grade

BLUE SQUARE: moderate, mostly smooth, variable width dirt with some unevenness, max 15% grade

BLUE DIAMOND: moderately difficult, mostly uneven dirt & rock, max 20% grade

BLACK DIAMOND: difficult, long , rocky segments with possible drops & exposure, loose, uneven rock, more than 20% grade

DOUBLE BLACK DIAMOND: extremely difficult, long , rocky segments with possible drops & exposure, loose, uneven rock, more than 20% grade, obstacles and excessive heat

The new rating system was unveiled on Feb 29, 2012 and will start popping up on area park web sites soon. Future plans also include adding the symbols to trail signs.