For years the pavement north out of Phoenix stopped at New River, and from there it was a dirt road the rest of the way to Prescott. This map of the community runs from Desert Hills out to Apache Peak Ranch and prints Desert Mountain School, Stepping Stones Academy, New River Kiwanis Community Park, the New River Nature Reserve and New River Elementary School, with Apache Peak, Daisy Mountain, Gavilan Peak and Apache Wash giving shape to the land.
New River is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northern Maricopa County.
KNOWOL made this map in 2026 and gave it the look of an old atlas. The shaded relief of Apache Peak, Daisy Mountain and Gavilan Peak comes from United States Geological Survey elevation data, and the streets were drawn from Census Bureau files. The community covers about 56.1 square miles, bordered by the Tonto National Forest to the north, Cave Creek to the east, Phoenix to the south and Phoenix and Anthem to the west, and it sits about 36 miles north of downtown Phoenix. 17,290 people lived here at the 2020 census.
A stagecoach stop on a seasonal wash
The community takes its name from New River, the seasonal wash that runs through it, part of the Agua Fria River system; Agua Fria is Spanish for “cold water.” Lord Darrell Duppa founded New River in 1868 as a stagecoach stop. Duppa was born in France in 1832, attended Cambridge University and learned five languages, and by his own account he reached Prescott in 1863. He’s remembered as one of the founders of Phoenix with his friend Jack Swilling: the name Phoenix was his idea, taken from the mythical bird’s rebirth from the ashes, for a city of canals built on the site of the ancient Hohokam canals. He’s credited with naming Tempe as well, after the Vale of Tempe in Greece, and he later built a ranch north of Phoenix.
For many years New River was the end of the old Black Canyon Highway, which is now Interstate 17. The highway from Phoenix to Flagstaff was finished in May 1956, and the final section of I-17 opened to traffic in August 1978. The Wranglers Roost Stagecoach Stop, established in 1890, is among the community’s local attractions, along with Cave Creek Regional Park, Lake Pleasant Regional Park and Spur Cross Ranch.
Click to explore a larger preview. The digital watermark does not appear on printed maps.
Names on this map
These names are printed on this map.
Streets and roads: W Photo View Rd, Old Stagecoach Rd, Pipeline Rd, White Spar Rd, 35th Ave, Stagecoach Rd, Echo Dr, W County Rd, E Mingus Rd, N Fig Springs Rd, W Twin Peaks Ln, W Wander Rd.
More street names, A to Z
1st St, 13th Ave, 26th St, Belinda Ln, Cannon Blvd, Canyon Way, Carlise Rd, Circle Mountain Rd, Cline Rd, Correction Center Rd, Desert Hill, E Carefree Hwy, E Cloud Rd, E Dolores Rd, E Jenny Lin Rd, E Joy Ranch Rd, E La Salle Rd, E Sabrosa Dr, E Saddle Mountain Rd, E Tanya Rd, E Venado Dr, Gibbon Rd, Golden Echo Dr, Honda Bow Rd, Maddock Rd, N 27th Ave, New River Rd, Ninth St, N Lake Pleasant Rd, N Pioneer Rd, Pioneer Ave, Rambling Rd, Ranch Rd, River Rd, Sol Ln, Valley Pkwy, Valley Pl, W Carefree Hwy, W Cloud Rd, W Honda Bow Rd, W Irvine Rd, W Jenny Lin Rd, W Rockaway Hills Rd.
Keeping it rural
New River and its neighbor Desert Hills are unincorporated, and while parts of Maricopa County have seen heavy development, New River has held off. Residents have tried several times to incorporate as a town to control zoning and development: in 1979, when a judge found the area too rural to qualify; in 1995, for an area of about 120 square miles; in 1999; and from 2017, together with Desert Hills, until the effort ended in June 2019 without the City of Phoenix’s approval for a vote. Many residents once relied on water hauled from fire hydrants in Phoenix by state-licensed haulers, and since August 2018 the water has come from a filling station run by Epcor. The Daisy Mountain Fire District covers fire and emergency service, and children attend the Deer Valley Unified School District.
Daisy Mountain, 3,176 feet, and Gavilan Peak, 2,980 feet, both stand within the community. Gavilan Peak was named in the 1880s, and the name means “sparrow hawk” in Spanish and “hawk” in Apache. The Daisy Mountain Preserve is a six-square-mile stretch of undeveloped Arizona State Trust Land shared with Anthem, Desert Hills and northern Phoenix, open with a State Land Department recreation permit, where people hike, ride horses, bicycle, take photographs and watch birds. There are no designated trails there, and the preserve’s page points hikers to the New River Nature Preserve for more. A New River Kiwanis Park is on the community’s list of local attractions too. Desert Mountain School, Stepping Stones Academy, New River Elementary School, Apache Peak, Apache Peak Ranch and Apache Wash are printed too.
This New River map is a good addition to an office, library or den, and it can help teach children the geography and history of the area. It’s made for anyone who calls New River home, from Desert Hills out to Apache Peak Ranch, and KNOWOL created it in 2026 to show the community as it looks today. Zoom in on the preview above to explore the details, then click here to get your copy of the New River map.
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