When temperatures soar, hiking trails may be off limits in Phoenix. The city’s parks department will hold a public meeting Thursday to consider closing all of its 41 trailheads in high heat.
If enacted, the plan would post signs at trailheads warning the trails are closed to humans at 110 degrees and closed to dogs at 100 degrees.
Parks and Recreation spokesman Gregg Bach said the department has focused safety efforts on educational outreach, but discussions to take it a step further began after several rescues and other incidents related to the heat.
An extreme heat wave two weeks ago claimed the lives of six people in Arizona, including a young woman who was mountain biking on a Phoenix trail. The Arizona Department of Health Services reports about 2,000 people a year are admitted to hospitals across the state due to heat-related illness.
The meeting is Thursday, June 30 at 5 p.m. at 200 W. Jefferson St.
