Piestewa Peak

Piestewa Peak, at 2,610 feet, is the second highest point in the Phoenix Mountains after Camelback Mountain and the third highest in the city of Phoenix, Arizona. It stands in the Piestewa Peak Recreation Area within the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, near the Piestewa Freeway, State Highway 51. Formerly named Squaw Peak, and known in O'odham as Vainom Do'ag, it is named in honour of Army Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa, the first known Native American woman to die in combat in the United States military and the first female soldier killed in action in the 2003 Iraq War. The summit trail is a strenuous one- to two-hour walk, and several alternative trails run through the surrounding park.

Where it is

Piestewa Peak is a natural landmark near Phoenix, in Maricopa County. It is one of the natural landmarks in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.

How this ranking was reached

No official visitor count is published for Piestewa Peak, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.

Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.

Sources

• Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
• Coordinates and designations: Wikivoyage(opens in a new tab)
• County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
• Official site: https://www.phoenix.gov/parks/trails/locations/piestewa-peak(opens in a new tab)

Record last verified 2026-08-12.