Tom's Thumb--A great hike in the Phoenix area

Despite hiking a lot in the Phoenix metro area, I'd never been to Tom's Thumb until a few weeks ago.  It was totally worth the drive. 

For scale, try to spot the person standing on the ridgeline:

If I were in the Czech Republic, I would call these "rock towns"  

I named this formation "The Exasperated Backpacker."  Can you see it?  

Tom's Thumb itself:

A beautiful female Phainopepla:  

I took the long way, from the Gateway Trailhead (18333 N. Thompson Peak Pkwy. in Scottsdale), and the trail passed several distinct landscapes and areas of vegetation.  Beautiful.  Once I got away from both trailheads, it was pretty quiet too.  A lovely day.

WARNING:  I did this a few weeks ago, on a cooler day.  If you attempt this in shoulder season, go early and start from the closer trailhead (Tom's Thumb Trailhead).  I would NOT advise doing this in full summer, unless you are well acclimatized, pick a less-hot day, carry plenty of water, start at sunrise, and only do the shorter version.   

MY ROUTE:  From the Gateway Trailhead (easy access from the 101), I took the Saguaro trail to the Gateway Loop trail to the Windgate Pass trail to Tom's Thumb Trail.  I enjoyed a detour to Lookout Point, played a little on the rocks, and went about half a mile on the gorgeous Tom's Thumb Trail northbound before I turned around.  Then I went down the East End trail to the Bell Pass trail, which eventually connected back up with the Gateway Loop trail near my original trailhead.  According to my tracker, it was just over 14 miles and only about 3100 feet of gain (but it felt like more).   

A map of my route, if the forty trail names above confused you (note: all the number on my tracker site are in metric)

The traditional route from Tom's Thumb Trailhead is about 4.25 miles round-trip and 1033 feet gain, a little more if you check out Lookout Point or do any other exploring.