Camelback Mountain
Echo Canyon Recreation Area, City Of Phoenix · Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix's best-known mountain, a red sandstone and granite ridge between Phoenix and Paradise Valley that looks like a resting camel, with a rock formation called the Praying Monk on its head. Two steep trails reach the 2,704-foot summit: Echo Canyon, about 1.2 miles each way with handrails on the steepest rock, and Cholla, a longer ridge climb. Both gain about 1,300 feet and involve real scrambling, and the city's fire department carries out many rescues here every year, mostly for heat. The Echo Canyon lot is small and fills by dawn on cool weekends. Under Phoenix's heat safety programme, the Echo Canyon and Cholla trails close from 8 AM to 5 PM on Extreme Heat Warning days. Echo Canyon was closed for two months in late 2025 for boulder stabilisation and reopened on 14 December 2025.
Echo Canyon Trailhead, 4925 East McDonald Drive, Phoenix, Arizona, 85018, United States
Trails open from sunrise to sunset. Echo Canyon and Cholla close 8 AM-5 PM on Extreme Heat Warning days, and can close for maintenance (check phoenix.gov before going).
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