El Mirage
About El Mirage
El Mirage sets in Maricopa County and is about 18 miles from Phoenix on US 60. El Mirage conisists of a little less than nine square miles of land. Four miles from El Mirage is the popular Sun City where you will find many retirees vacationaing annually escaping the harsh winter of their own states. These travelers are commonly referred to as snow birds. Sun City has a little more land holdings than its neighbor El Mirage with a little more than 14 square miles with a very small portion of that being water. Sun City has expanded with Sun City West, Sun City Grand, Sun City Anthem and finally Sun City Festival because of the growing community of retirees who continue to move into the area. Nineteen miles from El Mirage is the White Tank Mountain Regional Park with over 29,000 acres of desert and mountain property. There are several camping areas with built in grills and restroom facilities and there are just over 25 miles of hiking trails for everyone ranging from easy to difficult for the more advanced hikers to explore. The most popular trail-hiking trail is the Waterfall trail. The trail though rather short in distance is picturesque through a rather close canyon with a nice waterfall where water runs only at certain times of the year. Also a special trail was designed for running for individuals who want to exercise those skills this is an aggressive ten-mile track. The park also has several designated bike and horse trails available, and for visitors who do not have horses of their own the White Tanks riding Stables provides a number of guided rides within the park. The park also features programs with educational nature walks, astronomy events along with specialized events for teens. There are also a number of petro glyphs that can be seen in the park. The Sonoran Desert National Monument is about 75 miles south of El Mirage. This area is protected by Presidential proclamation given by President Clinton January 17, 2001. The area covers over 496 thousand acres and is controlled and protected by the US Bureau of Land Management. The area is home to many plants and animals that are endangered species.