Javelina Trail is wonderful a little gem of a trail located deep within the South Mountain Park complex of Phoenix. Javelina has several personalities, ranging from a grueling one-way uphill grind to a technical and challenging intermediate level downhill. As the Javelina trail is located within the complex, the ride itself must be accessed via other trails in the system.

Javelina Trail has several sections of technical rock outcroppings that make for picky route selection on the downhill and technical maneuvering on the uphill. The scenery is quite good in the South Mountain Park area as the trails wind through the Sonoran Desert. Javelina Trail is located on the north side of the South Mountain Complex, which can be less congested than other areas of the park on busy days.

The Javelina Trail is accessed by a variety of approaches, each offering its own flavor to the trip. Perhaps the easiest of the tree is by way of the Mormon Trail and the Pima Canyon Trailhead, involving a short climb to the Javelina Trailhead followed by a 6 mile, at times technical, downhill to the Beverley Canyon Trailhead. Riders looking for a good uphill grind and a fun ridge ride may find the access via Beverley Canyon via Powerline trail to Ridgeline Trail to Javelina a real blast! The Ridgeline trail has an especially grueling uphill section as the trail gains the high ridgeline of South Mountain and more than likely most riders will be pushing their bikes. Riders coming this way will also be rewarded by the fun and technical Javelina downhill. Finally, the Javelina trail may be ridden as an uphill, a good fit for riders with big lungs and legs of steel.