What is the WestWorld Trailhead?
Most people know WestWorld for car auctions and horse shows. It is also a trailhead.
The City of Scottsdale lists WestWorld, 15939 N. 98th St., as an access area for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Its amenities are aimed at riders: horse-trailer parking, a water trough, a shade ramada, restrooms, public arenas and directional signage. The city’s directions are simple: access the Preserve via the WestWorld Trail to the Quartz or Taliesin Trails.
The city’s Spring 2026 trail map puts the WestWorld Trailhead at 1,530 feet. All distances below are summed from that map’s segment lengths.
- The WestWorld Trail runs 0.5 mile to an underpass beneath Thompson Peak Parkway (marker WW3).
- It continues southeast 0.6 mile to the Quartz Trail junction (WW5), about 1.1 miles from the trailhead.
- It passes junctions WW9 and WW7 and reaches the Taliesin Trail branch (WW11) at about 2 miles.
- It ends at Cactus Road and Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, about 3.3 miles out, at 1,474 feet.
The trail stays within about 60 feet of elevation the whole way. It is open desert walking and riding, and the climbing begins once you turn onto Quartz or Taliesin.
For the event grounds themselves, including the Equidome, North Hall and Barrett-Jackson, see WestWorld of Scottsdale.
How to use it
For riders. This is the southern Preserve’s trailer-friendly entrance. Gateway and Lost Dog Wash have horse-trailer parking too, but WestWorld adds arenas, a trough and space to tack up. The WestWorld Trail is flat and long, which makes it a good warm-up before the climbing starts. Everyone on Preserve trails yields to horses.
Choose your direction at WW5. About a mile out, the Quartz Trail branches off toward the mountains. One 0.7-mile segment links to the Quartz Trailhead on McDowell Mountain Ranch Road, and the Quartz Trail continues across the bajada toward the Gateway and Lost Dog Wash networks. If you stay on the WestWorld Trail to WW11, the Taliesin Trail heads east toward the Taliesin Overlook area, above Taliesin West.
For hikers and cyclists. The trail works on foot and by bike, though the flat first mile is less interesting than the rest of the Preserve. If you have two cars, a good one-way route starts at WestWorld and ends at the Quartz Trailhead or Lost Dog Wash.
Check the event calendar. WestWorld is an active venue. During major shows, auctions and festivals, parts of the grounds are busy or reserved. Check before you tow a trailer in on a big week.
Rules and heat. Preserve trails are open sunrise to sunset. Dogs must be on a hand-held leash no longer than six feet and should stay home whenever it will be over 90 degrees. E-bikes are not allowed on Preserve trails. From May through September, ride or hike at first light. Read our summer sunrise hiking rules, and riders should see our horseback riding guide.
Where the Preserve was dedicated
The WestWorld grounds played a part in creating the Preserve.
On October 3, 1994, one year after the McDowell Mountains Task Force presented its report, the Scottsdale City Council held an outdoor session at WestWorld. The creation of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve was the main item on the agenda. According to the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy’s account, Mayor Herb Drinkwater and Land Trust chair Bill Ensign led council members on a horseback ride in the Preserve before the meeting. After the speeches, the council formally dedicated the original Preserve: 4.5 square miles, about 2,860 acres, in three parcels of city-owned land. The Preserve has since grown far larger.
Five years later, in its 1999 Access Areas Report, the Preserve Commission named the WestWorld parking areas west of Thompson Peak Parkway as an access area outside the Preserve itself. It noted that parking around Brett’s Barn and the stables made a good staging area for equestrians and other trail users, with links to the Reata Wash and planned open-space corridors. The WestWorld Trail, with its underpass beneath Thompson Peak Parkway, puts that idea into practice: a horse can leave a trailer at WestWorld and reach Preserve trails without crossing Thompson Peak Parkway at street level.
Why it matters
Most Preserve trailheads were built from scratch at the desert’s edge. WestWorld was already a city equestrian center. Using it as a trailhead connects the arenas and the trails, and it keeps the Preserve open to riders, who are some of its oldest users.