Pima Canyon to Mt. Kimball 7.2 miles 4300 gain (2960 to 7260) 600 feet/mile Finger Rock Canyon to Mt. Kimball 5.1 miles 4140 gain (3120 to 7260) 812 feet/mile Mt. Wrightson via Old Baldy trail 5.4 miles 4050 gain (5400 to 9453) 750 feet/mile Wasson peak via Sweetwater trail 4.7 miles 1890 gain (2800 to 4690) 402 feet/mile Grand Canyon, South Kaibab trail 6.3 miles 4750 gain (2450 to 7200) 754 feet/mile
Everyone complains that the Finger rock trail is steep, and it is! But it isn't that much steeper than the ever popular trail up Mt. Wrightson.
Like Pima Canyon, no dogs year 'round.
To park at the trailhead (for some kind of overnight escapade), call Pima County Parks and Recreation at 520-877-6000 and request an overnight parking permit. As at any trailhead, there is danger of thieves breaking into your car, so be sure it is empty with nothing of potential interest to entice such low-lifes. Also, as with Ventana Canyon, this area is subject to closure and restriction from January through April to benefit the bighorn sheep. The trail is open, but any off trail hiking is forbidden.
Beginning at the Finger Rock trailhead (3000 feet elevation), it is 4.5 miles of quite steep hiking to the trail junction at 6900 feet. Left from here, it is 0.5 miles to the summit of Mt. Kimball (elevation 7258). If you go right, you will drop down to a pass at 6280, then contour to the junction with the trail coming up Ventana Canyon (1.8 miles). From here it is 1.2 miles to the summit of Window Peak (7458 feet). A clever person might arrange a car shuttle so they could hike up Finger Rock Canyon and down Ventana (or up Pima and down Finger Rock).
Of course you don't need to hike all the way to Mt. Kimball to enjoy Finger Rock Canyon. A lot of people hike to what is marked on the USGS map as Finger Rock Spring. This is only about 1 mile and misses the best the canyon has to offer, but it is at least a sample for those not interested in more strenuous things.
At Finger Rock Spring there are a few larger greener trees that suggest that water is not far below the surface if in fact is is not visible (and it usuually ain't). Here the trail leaves the canyon and heads up the right (east) side of the canyon. It is also at this point that the trail gets busy climbing and earning its reputation as one of the steepest trails anywhere.
At about 4100 elevation is a nice spot to stop for a breather and perhaps have a snack, or lunch, or turn around. The views here are interesting and you can see the trail ahead contouring below a large cliff. The trail here heads straight up the slope for a while before it begins contouring.
If you continue on to about 5600 elevation you will have passed that big cliff and will arrive at a junction of sorts where you can take a turn to the right and up to the obvious saddle. This is called "Linda Vista Saddle" (and is not marked on the USGS map nor the Green Trails map). This is about 2.5 miles from the trailhead, so it makes a reasonable and worthwhile goal if you aren't up for Kimball Peak.
Before arriving here, at about 5200 elevation, you may have noticed an unofficial "use trail" that will take you over to Finger Rock itself and perhaps to Prominent Point via an adventure. Not legal January to April due to bighorn sheep restrictions.
The Finger Rock trail (at the north end of Alvernon) is the most likely way to approach this area, but you may want to consider hiking up Pima Canyon and approaching from above. There is also a route from lower Pima Canyon that takes you up Prominent Point.
If your goal is Finger Rock, you will leave the Finger rock Canyon trail and bushwhack and contour to the saddle between Prominent Point and the Finger. The climb itself can be done with a single rope and some gear. One description says that the moves at the bolts are as hard as 5.8. Maybe so, but I find this surprising. The rock though is fractured and unstable and will give any sane person the willies. Prominent Point itself will require class 3 or 4 scrambling. Lots of amole (shin-daggers) in this area.
Tom's hiking pages / tom@mmto.org