Arizona's Popular Scottsdale Hiking Trail Is A Steep Climb To Panoramic Views And Unreal Rock Formations

Scottsdale, Arizona is known for its outdoor fun, and one must-visit spot in the area for adventure lovers is the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, one of America's largest urban preserves. It has over 230 miles of trails, so it can be hard to know where to start. If you're looking for a day hike, one particularly popular option is Tom Thumb's Trail. It's a 4.5 mile out and back hike that takes you through incredible granite rock formations on the way to the 140-foot-tall Tom's Thumb monolith. It looks like a giant thumbs up to the sky, and it was named for Tom Kreuser, a local rock climber who climbed it in 1965.

The trail takes you up through cactus dotted hillsides and around giant boulders, and it's easy to follow. It's got around 1,200 feet of elevation gain, so you'll want to make sure that you're in good shape. The first mile of the hike up to Tom's Thumb is the steepest, but there's a number of lookouts along the way that give you places to rest and take in the view. And if you can power through that first mile and keep going, the hard work pays off with some stunning views out over the desert landscape as you go. Once you get all the way up to Tom's Thumb, you'll be able to see downtown Phoenix.

Some things to keep in mind about hiking Tom Thumb's Trail in Scottsdale — it's one of the most dangerous hikes in Arizona because of the combination of steep terrain and, most notably, the heat. Dehydration and heat exhaustion can come on quickly, and they can be deadly. This trail is exposed with very little shade, and there's no water along the trail. If it's going to be a hot day, you need to start out early in the morning, and you might want to skip it entirely in summer; Wild Bunch Desert Guides recommends 7 a.m. as the latest start time for Scottsdale area summer hikes. And the gate at the Tom's Thumb trailhead isn't open until sunrise. Gates close at sunset, and parking is free. And while there's no water at the trailhead, there are restrooms.

If you're looking to get in some more mileage on your trip to Scottsdale, you can add on to your Tom's Thumb hike to make a loop of 11 challenging miles. And another popular but challenging hike in Phoenix is Camelback Mountain; it's about 20 miles from the McDowell Sonoran Preserve.