McDowell Mountains
Climbing Sections:
- Boulder Crest, Rabbit Hole (2)
- Fish Tour (4)
- Fist Grease Boulder (2)
- gardeners wall (9)
- Girlie Man Area (0)
- Glass Dome (4)
- Goat Hill (1)
- Knob Hill (3)
- Morrell's Wall (11)
- Parking Lot Rock (5)
- Sven Slab (26)
- Toms Thumb (14)
About McDowell Mountains:
| The McDowell Mountain climbing area contains the largest concentration of granite routes in the Phoenix area. Most of the crags are on the northern slopes of the mountain range. |
| Nearest town or city: | Scottsdale |
| Directions: | Take 101 North until it ends at Pima. Follow Pima out to Dynamite Blvd. Turn right on Dynamite and follow it out until you reach 128th street. Turn right onto 128 and follow it 3.3 miles to its end. There are climbing areas on all sides of the road. Refer to guide books for crag areas but parking and trails have changed since the old guide; this site has updated info. |
| Latitude, Longitude: | |
| Access Issues: | Access to Gardener's wall and Tom's Thumb has changed. Do not use the old way in near the lone house. City plans call for the wash leading to the huge boulderfield that we used to walk along will be closed and no longer used as a trail it is now "critical wildlife habitat" and will remain off limits. |
| Camping: | Free |
| When to Climb: | Autumn |
| Quantity of Climbs: | Year |
Topo Images
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Forum Discussions (13 posts)
| Subject | Author | Replies | Last Post | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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New McDowells Rock Climbing Guidebook | ErikF | 0 | Sep 06 2016, 11:25 PM |
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Request for Assistance – new McDowells Guidebook | ErikF | 2 | Nov 03 2014, 1:45 PM |
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NEW Tom's Thumb Trailhead | Peterslug | 0 | Nov 15 2012, 6:15 AM |
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Access Issues To date 2010 | Bontrager6 | 0 | Oct 27 2010, 12:58 AM |
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New access/parking for Gardener's Wall, Tom's Thumb and Sven Slab. | sonso45 | 1 | Oct 29 2009, 2:55 AM |
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Trail Flags for Tom's Thumb | sonso45 | 0 | Mar 16 2009, 5:04 PM |
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Old bolts in the McDowells | RomanD | 1 | Feb 24 2009, 11:47 PM |
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McDowell Mt. Access - 128th St. Closed | zeke_sf | 18 | Dec 17 2008, 12:19 AM |
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anybody wanta climb | newluddite | 0 | Nov 21 2006, 4:17 PM |
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Legal Route to Toms Thumb.... | danpayne | 1 | May 30 2006, 5:57 AM |
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Mcdowell Bolt Choppers Needed! | danpayne | 68 | Jan 29 2007, 1:57 AM |
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McDowell Mnts. Access | raindog | 3 | Mar 07 2004, 4:09 AM |
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Choppin new bolts @ Sven Slab! | baywolf | 18 | Feb 25 2003, 2:45 PM |
