Murphy Bridle Path

It’s great to know that right in the center of the nation’s 5^th largest city you can get back to nature with this incredible running, walking, and biking path. Now I’ve never actually seen anyone ride a horse down the bridle path but apparently its allowed. I have seen plenty of people running, walking and biking and I’ve even been one myself many times. A couple of hints: 1 — the path is not lit so if you go early in the morning or late in the evening, take a light; 2 — if you don’t live close enough to walk or bike there, park your car in the North Phoenix Baptist Church lot at Central and Bethany Home road while you exercise; 3 — there is no poop fairy so if you bring your dog, please bag and take his waste. But most of all, enjoy the opportunity to visit this great feature in the best part of town!

I am extremely fortunate to live right off of the Bridle path and have enjoyed running, pushing the stroller, and walking the dog down Central. It’s nice to see people outdoors being healthy! Bring your sneakers and a water bottle and you are good to go!

I was visiting out of town for a conference and staying at the Quality Inn and Suites near McDowell and Central. I was training for a half-​marathon and this was the perfect place to get a 5mi training run in on a dirt trail instead of pavement for a change. You can just drive up Central and park at the church on the corner of Central Ave and Bethany Homes Rd. The ‘trail’ itself isn’t anything special, its right alongside a busy road but there are some cute houses alongside it and overall I was glad I chose this place to run. I ran in the middle of the day on a Wednesday and felt very safe; there are very few intersections to cross which is nice and all the drivers were very courteous (quite a change from my home in LA!)

Love this walking path. I am up to two miles and almost ready to go for more. It is a nice way to cap my day off. Also, a very friendly crowd jogs and walks on this trail. It is one of the great things about Phoenix.

What is a good reminder that I live in the wild wild west? Where can you see families riding their bikes, friends out for a good walk, athletes training for marathons and me pretending I love marathons?
The lovely bridle path, that’s where. And how do you know when you’re at the bridal path? When you get to the horseshoe and dirt path. Yep. I’m serious. And, it’s in the middle of Phoenix.
I love the bridle path. It’s my favorite place to get a good jog in and do a good bit of people watching at the same time. And stay in the city. When I’m not on a hike, this is usually where my run takes me. It is a little bit of the olden days right here in the city. The path is pretty frequented on weekend mornings, especially Saturdays, but it’s not too crowded that there won’t be room for you. Trust me. You should try it out. You’ll get a good workout, some beautiful scenery, and it’s a lot better than running on the pavement :)

awesome place to run and kinda escape from the city

I call it Central Avenue Hiking Trail. I’ve heard folks call this the Bridle Path, but there are a lot more running shoes and strollers than riding boots and saddles.
NOBODY says Murphy Bridle Path, except maybe some grisly old dudes munching stogies and kicking out women at Phx Country Club.
«there are no brides either so all the times you see it referred to as Bridal Path is wrong. «Artur C. ell oh ell 8^ D
I really love this path. I like going out into wilderness more than strolling through the city’s center, but THERE’S SHADE ON THIS TRAIL !!! Yea!
If you were to go all heat stroke it wouldn’t take a helicopter to extract you! Yea!
Lots of friendly people of various hobbies and fitness levels, and a Boy Scout troop (I cannot recall the name of to give credit to) has even continued to supply the doggie mitt boxes with real pick-​up bags, even though the city of Phoenix has stopped supplying them to all of the dog parks.
At the north end of the path, you are a little south of Dunlap ave, near Corbin’s and Bombero’s, and at a crossroads with the Trail going along the Canal. You can park in the lot at Senior Villa Mexican Restaurant [*Edit: Formerly this mexican rest, but now the new Central Grille at 8525 N Central*]. If you want to start further south, then there are plenty of churches where you can prob park, but this restaurant is not open in the early part of the day, so even on weekends, this is a nice place to park.
Lock up! Despite your surroundings, and those even more posh further to the south, you are only a 5 minute walk from downtown Sunnyslope.
On the southwest side of the canal, there’s a house with it’s back wall bordering the canal path. The folks here have built a few Guard Towers for their little dog, and s/​he gets to runs up the steps to see over the wall and bark at whomever is going by. NEAT and FUN for that dog, but was a little distracting to my dogs, who wanted to eat that yappy little…)
Only trouble I had:
once you’re down the road a bit further south on Central, you are moving past various houses, estates, and condominiums, and are no longer near any of those restaurants up near Dunlap, however there is a distinct odor of DIRTY SPENT FRYER GREASE all up and down the path. I wonder if the city sprays a petroleum product on the unpaved path to keep dust down? I hope not; they did that on my street as a kid in Detroit, and anyone who walked on it barefoot got blisters, cracking, and peeling skin. Blech! Even if I lived near here, I’d rather have the dust, and I don’t want that on my dogs feet, either. One reason I’d use this path in the summer is that with all the nice sized shade trees, you don’t need to get your dog booties.
Pick up after your dogs. What’s with the people who tie it up in a baggie, but then leave the baggie?