Last week, I tried taking the Climbers Access Route up East End Mountain to Tom’s Thumb. I had to bail when I encountered a section I did not feel comfortable boulder-hopping.
This week, I returned to take the normal human route up Tom’s Thumb Trail to … Tom’s Thumb. Of course.
I woke up early enough that I could leave at my normal time, 5:30 a.m., so I figured I would beat rush hour. Traffic on the Loop 101 was surprisingly already heavy, and one Phoenix Asshole Driver almost hit me when he merged onto the freeway. 😡
I arrived at the Tom’s Thumb Trailhead, in north Scottsdale, aboout 6:30 a.m. It was still dark out. I was hoping to get up to Ogre’s Den, a cave on the north slope of East End Mountain, in time for sunrise, but the gate was closed. I ended up tweeting for 45 minutes until the gate was opened.
Unlike the Climbers Access Route, Tom’s Thumb Trail is wide & immaculately groomed.
Tom’s Thumb Trail is a hair over two miles long, climbing just under 1,100 ft. to the trail’s eponymous rock formation.
After exitting the trailhead, the route climbs 200 ft. in a half mile to emergency marker TT3. (Emergency markers serve as handy human-understandable “grid coordinates” for use in an emergency.) The TT3 marker is where the Climbers Access Route rejoins Tom’s Thumb Trail. Enough to get your heart pumping, but not a big deal.
From emergency marker TT3, Tom’s Thumb Trail switchbacks up a steep 700 ft. climb in only ¾ of a mile. I tried to maintain pace, but I seemed to have lost my hiking edge over the last few months and had to stop several times for ‘photographs’ (i.e. breathers). 💔
Tom’s Thumb Trail drops 80 ft. in the next ⅓ of a mile to to the saddle at East End Trail (designated by emergency marker EE1). Between the trailhead and East End Trail, there are four marked vistas, and I used those to suck wind.
The saddle has good views of McDowell Peak and antenna-topped Thompson Peak. I had been hiking in deep shadow until I reached the saddle, about an hour into my hike.
Tom’s Thumb Trail turns west, but I briefly headed east, along the south slope of East End Mountain, to Ogre’s Den. There is a faint use trail, but there are several scrambly bits, so I would not recommend a casual day hiker visit the cave. ✋
I was hoping Ogre’s Den would have all the cool stuff I had seen in older photos, such as a cot, picnic table, sandbagged walls, water retention system, lanterns, etc. A neat camping spot. But the killjoy park rangers had removed it all. Bummer.
On my way back from Ogre’s Den to the saddle, despite my fears of explosive 💩, I finally broke down and tried eating some orange wolfberries. (I was told they are edible.) They were juicy, and extremely tart. I made it back to the trailhead without filling my drawers. 👍
The first 1.5 miles of Tom’s Thumb Trail, to the saddle, give distant views of the boulder formations south of Tom’s Thumb. The ½ mile from the saddle to Tom’s Thumb climbs 200 ft. The still well-groomed trail leads you through those jumbled piles of boulders, many of which are marked by signs indicating rock climbing routes (e.g. Glass Dome). 🧗🏻♂️
Tom’s Thumb, itself, is not climbable by day hikers, or even experiencing back country hikers. Getting to the summit is only for rock climbers. The routes vary from 5.4 to 5.11c. At 9:15 a.m. on a Friday, no one was climbing, so I settled for taking photos of the chalk dusted edifice.
After taking a break at the bottom of Tom’s Thumb, day hikers will want to head back the way they came.
I, instead, followed the Climbers Access Route, which heads from emergency marker CR41 around the west side of Tom’s Thumb. Close to the formation, it was brushy and a bit scrambly, but the Climbers Access Route mellowed out for the next ⅓ of a mile along the ridge.
From the tip of the ridge, the Climbers Access Route is a very steep & rocky 700 ft. descent in only a half mile. Even with several small one- or two-rock cairns, the route is not always obvious. I’m glad I had the route on my crappy Garmin 62S. 🧭
Once at the bottom, I booked back to the TT3 intersection on Tom’s Thumb Trail, thence back to the trailhead.
Directions: From Loop 101 / Pima Freeway, take exit 36 north onto Pima Rd. In 4.8 miles, turn right onto Happy Valley Rd. In 4.3 miles, turn right onto Ranch Gate Rd. In 1.3 miles, turn right onto 128th St. The Tom’s Thumb Trailhead is in 1.4 miles, just past the traffic circle. There is no entry fee.
Park Map: McDowell Sonoran Preserve trail map
GPS File: Toms_Thumb_Trail_Ogres_Den
Distance: 4.74 mi.
AEG: 1,359 ft.
Time: 2h 19m
Hiking Video
Hiking Tom’s Thumb & Ogre’s Den from Preston McMurry on Vimeo.
