How many parks do you need to finish Maricopa County's winter trail challenge? Three county parks, or two plus the Maricopa Trail/Sun Circle Trail. Either way, two of them carry Cave Creek addresses: Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area at 44000 N. Spur Cross Road and Cave Creek Regional Park at 37019 N. Lava Lane.
The 2027 100 Miles in 100 Days Challenge opens at 6 a.m. this Sunday, November 1, 2026, and closes at 4 p.m. on February 8, 2027. From Cave Creek, the park rule leaves one piece outstanding: a third county park or the Maricopa Trail.
The rule that puts Cave Creek two parks ahead
The program guidelines from Maricopa County Parks and Recreation are short. Here is what applies to someone starting from Cave Creek:
- Mileage depends on how you travel. Hikers and trail runners need 100 miles. Mountain bikers, e-bikers and horseback riders need 200.
- You can mix modes, but the split is fixed. Seventy-five percent of the miles have to come from your main mode and 25 percent from the second. A hiker who adds riding ends up at 125 total miles: 75 on foot and 50 in the saddle or on a bike.
- You have to cover more than one park. Participants must visit at least three Maricopa County parks, or two county parks plus the Maricopa Trail/Sun Circle Trail. Miles on city or state park trails don't count.
- Everyone logs separately. Friends can't combine their miles toward one goal.
- You log in the app now. The county has retired the old Elog. Miles go in through the iOS app, the Android app or a web-based version that works on laptops and tablets. The app turns on November 1 and locks automatically at 4 p.m. on February 8.
From November 1 through February 8 is exactly 100 days, so the hiking goal works out to about a mile a day. A three-mile loop at Spur Cross on a Saturday and another at Cave Creek Regional Park on a Wednesday gets you most of a week's miles. Both visits count toward the park rule, leaving a third park or the Maricopa Trail as the remaining piece.
The first week of November happens at your two parks
The county has scheduled the season's early ranger programs and volunteer events in Cave Creek's two parks within about a week of the November 1 opening.
- Friday, October 30, 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Desert 101 Walk at Spur Cross, the day after this post publishes.
- Sunday, November 1. 100 Miles in 100 Days Challenge Kickoff Hike at Spur Cross. Registration is required and the hike is capped at 25 people.
- Friday, November 6, 8 to 10:30 a.m. Seed Toss Event at Cave Creek Regional Park. Meet at the Nature Center.
- Friday, November 6, 12:30 to 2 p.m. Discovery Station at the Cave Creek Regional Park Nature Center. A ranger covers the challenge rules, registration and how to log miles. No registration is needed.
- Friday, November 6. Horseback Ride to Claymine Tour at Cave Creek Regional Park. This guided ride is about 1.5 miles round trip. You register through Cave Creek Trail Rides, and the ride fee is separate from park entry.
- Saturday, November 7, 8 to 10:30 a.m. Seed Toss Event at Spur Cross. Meet at the main parking lot.
- Saturday, November 7. Fitness Hike at Spur Cross.
If you're planning around the challenge, the Discovery Station is the easiest place to get your questions answered in person. The Claymine ride is also the simplest way for a hiker to try the 25 percent riding split before committing to a combo goal.
Seed Toss mornings count as trail time
The two Seed Toss mornings are listed as volunteer events, not hikes, but they take place on the trails. Both run under the county's Desert Defenders program, and the county's Spur Cross event listing describes the work this way:
"We will fling native seed pellets created early this year into the desert of Maricopa County's regional parks. The initiative to spread native seeds is a proactive step towards ecological restoration."
The same listing says the work involves hiking along nature trails. At some parks there will be both short and long routes, and the county notifies participants when a route is longer than two miles round trip. Bring work gloves, water and a snack, and wear long sleeves, pants and closed-toed shoes. Families are welcome. Parents have to stay with minors, and the county recommends participants be at least five years old. If fewer than two people sign up for an event, it may be canceled up to a day ahead. Spur Cross sign-ups go through Signup.com.
If you go on both days, you work at both of Cave Creek's challenge parks in the first week, carrying gloves and seed pellets.
Spur Cross is cheaper for Cave Creek residents
The two parks charge entry differently. Spur Cross is set up in a way that favors people who live in town.
Under the fee schedule the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved on December 10, 2025, which took effect January 1, 2026, Spur Cross charges $5 per person to anyone who isn't a resident of the Town of Cave Creek. Children under 15 get in free. The entry station accepts annual passes, Cave Creek resident cards and cash. If you pay cash, put exact change in the iron ranger envelope. The fee stays at $5 per person in 2027 and 2028. The county lists checks as not accepted.
Cave Creek Regional Park uses the county's standard vehicle entry fee of $10. The same schedule keeps it at $10 in 2027 and raises it to $12 on January 1, 2028. For four nonresident adults sharing a car, Cave Creek Regional Park costs half what the same four pay at Spur Cross. The Spur Cross per-person fee is written for nonresidents of the Town of Cave Creek, and the entry station accepts Cave Creek resident cards.
The county also lists an annual pass at a $140 value, which is the grand prize described below.
Winter hours are shorter, and the creek is running
The parks shorten their hours just as the challenge begins. From November 1 through April 30, Spur Cross is open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Summer hours were 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Cave Creek Regional Park keeps the same 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. winter schedule, and its Nature Center is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. At Spur Cross, a hiker who goes before work loses an hour at the start of the day, and the evening closing comes an hour earlier too.
Spur Cross doesn't have a Nature Center, according to its own park page. What it has in winter is the creek. The county describes 2,154 acres of rugged upper Sonoran Desert where Cave Creek flows through the winter months, past archaeology sites, riparian areas and leftovers from the mining and ranching days that gave the conservation area its name.
December 18 lands near the halfway point
Day 48 of the challenge is Friday, December 18. That evening the Town of Cave Creek calendar lists the Harmony Hallow Luminaire Hike, 6 to 10 p.m., starting from the Spur Cross parking lot. The town lists it as free and sends readers to Cave Creek Guide for details. Keep in mind that the 8 p.m. winter closing time on the park page and the 10 p.m. end time on the town listing don't match. Check the town's event page for logistics before you go.
On the challenge's pace of about a mile a day, a participant should be close to 50 miles by that evening.
What finishing gets you, and when
Everyone who completes the challenge gets a limited-edition T-shirt. To claim it, you fill out a Survey Monkey form that opens in January 2027. The county will announce distribution dates at the end of February 2027, and shirts are not mailed, so you'll pick yours up in person. Each person can get one shirt per season, no matter how many miles they log. Dogs can come along on the hikes, but only human participants qualify for a shirt.
Finishers are also entered in a grand-prize drawing for an Annual Pass, valued at $140, plus a $25 Nature Center retail voucher. If the winner already has a pass, the county renews it for a year when it expires. Annual passes are accepted at the Spur Cross entry station.
The count runs from 6 a.m. on November 1 to 4 p.m. on February 8, 2027. Enter all your treks in the app before it locks.
Spur Cross Road and Lava Lane are two of the addresses that shape a Cave Creek winter. If you'd like to know how trail access figures into home values around town, Kayla Kerulis is happy to walk you through it. Request a complimentary market consultation, and I'll see you at the trailhead.
