Mesa's Eastern Canal

Lately, the smell of orange blossoms has been sending me into a tizzy. I've been driving around with the windows all down on the minivan, and taking strange out-of-the-way routes through orange groves on my way home from work just to inhale the delicious fragrance. Over the years, I've tried to grow my own citrus trees without any luck. The first tree was completely eaten by my new puppy -- chewed down to a nubbin, and then finished off by a good dig into the six-foot hole I dug with a pick axe in Arizona caliche. She really appreciated my work at softening up the dirt for her. Then I got wise and had my side yard walled and gated off so the dogs couldn't get in there, and I planted more citrus trees. After the first summer monsoon, the entire side yard flooded and the citrus grove became more reminiscent of a cranberry bog. Attempt number three: I planted in October, during Arizona's "second spring," only to have the trees wiped out by frost damage the following winter. I give up. I enjoy other people's trees now. It pains me to see established orange groves plowed to build new houses. Houses that will probably sit vacant as Arizona currently has a 15% housing vacancy rate. The 5 C's of Arizona (Climate, Copper, Cattle, Cotton, and Citrus) may be one C short at this pace. If you're in Mesa, explore the Brown Road and Val Vista Drive area to see what I mean.

This area of Mesa is at the crossroads of several SRP-manned canals. The 131 miles of canals deliver water throughout the Phoenix metro area, and they provided the irrigation that created many of these orange groves. The canals are a great place to walk, run, or bike to get away from cars and suburbia. The particular segment of the Eastern Canal that I like, has an asphalt walking surface, only one hairy street to jaywalk across (McKellips), ample parking at Mountain View High School, and the luscious smell of backyard orange trees if you walk the canal in March or April when they are blooming. After parking at Mountain View High's north lot, walk north along Lindsay Road, across Hope Street, and turn left at the asphalt canal path. I took this canal walk to Old Gilbert Road and turned around and walked back the same way, and the entire walk was just over 3 miles. You could turn around at McKellips and avoid crossing any streets, and you would cut about a mile off your total. Another benefit to this walk is that you have some afternoon shade from people's backyard trees as you walk northwest along the path. I only saw two other bikers during my walk on a late Thursday afternoon so apparently word hasn't gotten out yet that this is a great place to walk. Enjoy the smell!

Length: 3.2 miles
Elevation gain: none
Time it took us: 1.5 hours
Dogs okay: yes
Fees: none

on the return trip, looking southeast at the path & canal