Lookout Mountain is one of the smaller units of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve system. Much of this mountain is composed of the remains of volcanic eruptions that occurred late in the Tertiary Period, some 25 million years ago. The skyline is easily recognized from anywhere in the north Phoenix area.

We met at LOM Park where there are restrooms and plenty of parking spots. After finding a stranger to take a group photo, we began our counterclockwise trek on trail #308 from the south side, moving around east and then around to the north side, where there is a small parking lot and a trailhead with no restrooms.

This is the same route that hundreds of hikers follow during the Phoenix Summit Challenge every year in November.

Trail 308 on the north side begins a fairly steep climb and meets up with the summit trail, #150. At this point the group decided they would like to go to the top so up, up, up we went. This trail is steep and rocky with a short rock scramble near the top. The view from the top is worth the effort.

After all hikers made it back down the rock scramble, we rejoined Trail 308 and continued encircling 4 of the smaller hills by doing figure-8 patterns. This brought us around to the west side and then to the south side where we could look down on the park and our cars.

A couple of years ago there was a major rock slide high up on the south side of Lookout Mountain. The hike leader pointed out the huge boulders which now litter the area and hint at the awesome power of nature.

The weather treated us well today, with a cloud cover and a breeze much of the time.

4 miles
922' elevation gain
2.5 hours
5 hikers, including 3 AZHC members