Camelback Mountain Hiking Guide
Echo Canyon is the route that made Camelback famous and the one that fills the Phoenix Fire Department's mountain rescue log. It gains roughly 1,280 feet in a little over a mile, using bolted handrails on two pitches of bare sandstone where the trail stops being a trail and becomes a climb. Note that Echo Canyon is closed September 2-18, 2026 while the City installs new automatic gates and trail posts — the Cholla Trail on the east side stays open throughout. The summit view over Paradise Valley and downtown is genuinely excellent. Getting there is a much bigger ask than the 2.4-mile round trip suggests.
Why the Mileage Lies
Two and a half miles round trip reads like an hour of easy work. It is not. The grade averages well over a thousand feet per mile, the surface alternates between engineered steps, loose gravel over rock, and slabs steep enough that the city installed pipe handrails. Most people take between two and three hours. Coming down is slower and more dangerous than going up, because the same slabs that gave you good friction on the ascent become a controlled slide on the descent. Shoes with real tread are not optional here.
Parking Is the First Obstacle
The Echo Canyon lot off East McDonald Drive holds a small number of cars and closes when full, with a posted limit on how long you can stay. On a pleasant Saturday it fills before sunrise and the surrounding streets are aggressively signed against parking. Arriving at first light solves this and the heat problem at once. There is no overflow arrangement worth relying on, and circling the neighbourhood hoping for a space is a well-established way to waste an hour.
Heat Is the Actual Hazard
Phoenix regularly exceeds 110 degrees from June through September, and this mountain is bare rock that radiates stored heat well into the evening. The city closes trails during extreme heat warnings and posts rangers to turn people back. Rescues here cluster in the late morning among visitors who started at nine thinking it was only a short hike. From May to September, be off the mountain by eight or do not go. Carry more water than you think you need, and turn around if you feel unwell rather than pushing for the top.
The Two Routes Are Not Equivalent
Camelback has two summit trails and they are frequently confused. Echo Canyon climbs the western side and is the steeper, more scrambly, more popular option. The Cholla Trail rises from the east flank on a gentler grade before turning technical along the ridgeline near the top. Both reach the same summit at 2,704 feet. Echo Canyon closes regularly — for the gate work of September 2-18, 2026, and for most of the previous year while the City stabilised three unstable boulders found after storms. Check the City of Phoenix Camelback trail status page before you drive over rather than assuming, and treat Cholla as the standing alternative, which is exactly what the parks department recommends.
What You Get at the Top
The summit is a broad rock platform with an unobstructed view across the Valley of the Sun: Piestewa Peak and the Phoenix Mountains to the north, downtown to the southwest, the McDowells and Four Peaks out east. Sunrise is the best light and the best temperature. It is also crowded — this is one of the most hiked summits in the United States — so expect company on the rocks and be patient at the handrail sections where uphill and downhill traffic meet.
Hiking tips for Camelback Mountain
- Start at first light year-round; it solves the tiny lot, the heat, and the queues at the handrail pitches in one decision.
- Wear shoes with genuine tread — the descent over polished sandstone slabs is where most injuries on this mountain happen.
- Do not attempt this from May through September after about 8 a.m.; the city closes trails in extreme heat and rescues spike late morning.
- Carry at least two litres per person even in winter, because there is no shade and no water anywhere on the route.
- Check the City of Phoenix Camelback status page before driving over — Echo Canyon closes for maintenance and hazard work more often than any other trail in the city.
Nearby trails to explore
- Piestewa Peak
- Tom's Thumb
- Hole in the Rock
Hike this trail with TrailMates
Camelback is better with someone who knows the handrail sections and will hold you to a sunrise start. Use TrailMates to find Phoenix hikers heading up Echo Canyon or Cholla, and swap current trail-status intel before you drive out. Download the TrailMates app to connect.