Pinnacle Peak Park — Attraction in Scottsdale

Overall a nice trail to hike. The parking lot does get full pretty quick so if you want to snag a spot, I'd say go there early morning. Also, the trails can get very busy too. A bit too busy for my liking if I had to be honest- especially if you go during the peak hour time of late morning on a weekend when everyone is awake and ready to workout. Some people go a bit fast too and some are a bit slow, causing occasional "clogs" on the trail. Crowds aside, the views are very nice. Within 5 minutes of starting on the trail, you immediately start getting a nice bird's eye view of the Scottsdale area. The trail is one way in and the same way back, so you don't have to worry about getting lost either. It's like a camel hump pattern- you go up, then down, then up , then down again and then if you choose- you can continue the sandy path that will lead you to a metal gate that you can cross and then walk for about 2-3 minutes and then you hit the street.

A word of caution: there is a sign at the very last downhill that says strenuous past this point. Take heed, because although downhill might not be too bad, once you turn around and climb up, that's where you will feel that...

This view of Pinnacle Peak is actually taken from the Tom’s Thumb trail. From here you can see much of the surrounding landscape and neighborhoods. Pinnacle Peak Park is a local park operated by the city of Scottsdale. It sits further north about 30 minutes from the more central areas of Scottsdale. Nevertheless, it is surrounded by several very nice neighborhoods such as DC Ranch so it is also cool to see some of the extravagant houses along the way. The trail to the top of the peak is 1.75 MI (2.8 KM) one-way via an out-and-back trail so the total round trip is 3.5 miles (5.6 KM). The park also offers some places where you can rock climb as well as places to stop along the way. Because much of these trails and parks are operated by the city and surrounding neighborhoods they are well-kept and offer several options to get outdoors and explore. The nearby McDowell Mountains provide additional opportunities to bike, ride horses, and hike. One of the most popular trails there is the Tom’s Thumb trail so you can easily access to popular trails within a...

Nowhere did it say preserve when we got there but that's what we were told it was so no touching of anything or leaving the trail and hiking to the top on the rocks like we wanted to do. Every where in Scottsdale is a nightmare to hike if you want to interact with the environment with out getting you and your kids in trouble. We had people coming out of there yards on numerous occasions telling us we were trespassing when we were 30 feet from there yards in a designated public park and there was not a single sign posted because we were still in the park but they called the police anyways and they show up and just watch us then leave but it's straight crazy that people act like that here when your close to there private property with out actually being on it they cuss at you and threaten your family then call the police and this is not a 1 time incident it happened in 3 separate places in 1 week. These people in Scottsdale are a bunch of egotistical territorial Pyschopaths and there are better places to take your family to have fun...