One of our favorite family activities is hiking, and the Scottsdale area provides lots of wonderful hikes for a variety of hikers. We’ve explored this area for many years, and I’m sharing our favorite hikes below! I’ve included a map for each area for planning purposes, but make sure to pick up your own map when you’re onsite, just in case any changes have been made.
With grandparents available, we usually try to get out for some adult hikes, as well as shorter family hikes. On each map I’m including you’ll see two colors – yellow is for the kid friendly hikes and green is for the longer hikes. Our children are six and three, and have hiked all of the hikes that I’m including in the kid friendly hikes. Some of the adult hikes would be appropriate for older kids that are good hikers, just depends on the distance you think they can accomplish.
It’s important in the Scottsdale area to keep an eye out for critters (snakes, lizards, coyotes, javalina, etc), and to teach your kids what to do if they see any. It’s very rare to run into anything, but we have encountered rattlesnakes on a couple trails. We always make sure our kids don’t get too far ahead of us so we can keep an eye out for anything potentially dangerous. And of course they need to be careful around the cactus too, going off trail can be especially risky!
One of the most important factors for a happy family hike for our family is the amount of snacks that we bring. Kids don’t have the energy stores that we do, so keep them snacking and they’ll keep their energy up (which means less whining!) We usually take bars and applesauce pouches, along with trail mix for when it gets particularly dire (M&Ms every ten feet or so works very well if they’re not happy!) If I think they’re bored, we get them to tell us a story or sing a song together as a family. Pointing out interesting things along the trail as we go is helpful too to keep their brain engaged. We want our kids to enjoy hiking as a family, and don’t want a bad hike to ruin the experience for them, so keeping them happy and entertained is our biggest goal whenever we head out!
Tom’s Thumb
Kids hike: 1.5 miles roundtrip
Adult hike: 4.6 miles roundtrip
Entrance Fee: Free
More info: http://www.mcdowellsonoran.org/trailhead/toms-thumb/
The hike to Tom’s Thumb is one of our favorite hikes, but also one of the most challenging – which is likely why we enjoy it so much! The full hike is about 4.6 miles, and it is a LOT of up! But the views are incredible and reaching Tom’s Thumb is an achievement. It also has a nice trailhead with bathrooms and lots of parking. At busy times there are hosts on site to answer questions, other times you’re on your own.
Kid’s hike: We love taking our kids out to Tom’s Thumb to hike. It’s technical enough that they feel like rock climbers, but not too far for the reward of a beautiful view. We usually take them up to the first view point, which is about ¾ of a mile one-way. I’ve carried both of my children up this part of the hike in a carrier. If you do this, it might be helpful to have hiking sticks for the way down, it gets a little steep with loose gravel.
Adult’s Hike: After a portion of flat terrain, you’ll start to go up, up, up! But don’t forget to look behind you, there is a gorgeous view as you continue to climb. You’ll come to a saddle where you see the other side of the hike, and this is my favorite part. When you hike a little farther it opens into a gorgeous view of the other side of the valley. Once you make it there, you have about a ¼ of a mile to the actual Tom’s Thumb at the top. It’s a fun hike the rest of the way, and rewarding to make it to the very end. The down can be a little brutal because it’s steep, so prepare your knees and ankles for a rigorous downhill hike (if you can run it that’s even better, seems to be faster even if it’s a little tougher on your legs). Definitely bring your hiking sticks, you won’t regret it! Plan for this hike to take about four hours including a break at the top.
Brown’s Ranch
Entrance Fee: Free
More info: http://www.mcdowellsonoran.org/trailhead/browns-ranch/
The Brown’s Ranch area was recently purchased by the city of Scottsdale, and they are making some wonderful improvements to the land. This is very near where my parents live, and we’ve been using the land for hiking and mountain biking for a very long time, but it’s fun to see new trails and access points pop up as the city makes improvements. There are two areas here that we really enjoy.
Brown’s Mountain Trail
Total hike (kid friendly): About 2.6 miles roundtrip
There are many different hikes that you can find at the Brown’s Ranch Trailhead, our favorite is the one up to the top of Brown’s Mountain. This trailhead has nice facilities, and sometimes will have a host on site to answer questions. The Brown’s Mountain Trail hike is about 2.6 miles roundtrip, and our daughter has hiked this on her own when she was around five. We took a nice rest at the top to give her a break, but she did a great job and loved the hike. This wouldn’t be a bad one to carry a kiddo in a pack or carrier either, I think I’ve done that here too. The bottom is flat and rocky, but when you turn off Brown’s Ranch Road, it starts to meander up, and you’ll be rewarded with beautiful views. I have never done the last 0.2 miles of the trail. It’s an in and out, but it’s incredibly steep with loose gravel, and that’s not my thing, but my husband and Dad have gone up and back, and they enjoyed the challenge. Bring sticks if you’re planning on conquering that!
Bootlegger Trail
Total hike: About two miles, more if you want
On the other side of Brown’s Ranch is a different trail head where you’ll find one of our favorite kid hikes. This trailhead isn’t as well developed, but the last time we were there porta potties were available, which was a nice addition (especially when hiking with the kids)! We take the Bootlegger trail as far as the kids can handle and then turn around, which depends on the day. If you go about 0.9 miles on the trail, you’ll come to a nice lookout with a beautiful view of the surrounding area. (Another beautiful view can be found at the lookout 1.4 miles up the trail, we haven’t been up that far with the kids yet). Our favorite part of this hike is the big rock formations that the kids can explore. We try to hike this earlier in the season when it’s cooler (so we don’t have to worry as much about snakes as they explore), but any time of year you should be aware of your surroundings, especially when the kids want to explore.
Lost Dutchman State Park
Kids Hike: About a two-mile loop
Adults Hike: Four miles roundtrip
Entrance Fees: $7 per vehicle, $3 individual
More info: https://azstateparks.com/lost-dutchman/
We hiked at Lost Dutchman last year and it’s one of my favorite hikes we’ve done. Like Tom’s Thumb, this trail involves some serious elevation gain, but it’s worth it once you reach the basin! There is an entrance fee to this park, but the trail head has nice facilities – lots of parking and plenty of bathrooms. Rangers at the entrance are happy to help with any information as well.
Kids hike: We haven’t taken our kids to this hike, but the bottom portion of this hike would be fun with them. It’s a nice flat trail, with beautiful views of the flatiron. To do this loop, park at the Siphon Draw Trailhead and take the Discovery Interpretive Trail to Siphon Draw Trail, and then finish the loop on Jacob’s Crosscut Trail. This would give you about a two-mile loop.
Adults Hike: If you want to conquer the full hike, park in either the Palo Verde or Siphon Draw Trailhead lots, and then make your way on the Discovery Interpretive Trail to the Siphon Draw Trail, this will take you all the way up (and it’s LOTS of up!) We hiked up to the basin, at 3,100 feet, but there’s an additional treacherous 1,200 elevation gain to go over about a ¼ mile, which we didn’t attempt. The basin was a gorgeous place to enjoy the picnic lunch we brought, but it did get very cool up at the top the day we were there. I was happy I had brought a jacket to enjoy our time up there. On the way down, instead of following the Siphon Draw Trail the whole way back, we took Jackob’s Crosscut Trail for some additional scenery, it was a beautiful walk back to the car. We were happy to have our hiking sticks with us for this hike. Plan for this hike to take about four hours.
