Humphreys Peak

Humphreys Peak is the highest peak in Arizona.
It is the highest of a group of extinct volcanic peaks known as the San Francisco Peaks.
The summit can be most easily reached by hiking the 4.8 mile Humphreys Trail that begins at the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort in the Coconino National Forest.
The last 1 mile of the trail traverses the only region of tundra in Arizona, at over 11,500 feet.
On a clear day you can see views of the Grand Canyon to the north.

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Routes

Humphreys Peak Trail

70 summits • 9.9 mi • 3,673 ft gain • 6 hr 8 min • Class 1

Humphreys Peak 10.0 mi route

2 summits • 10.0 mi • 3,238 ft gain • 7 hr 18 min

Humphreys Peak 10.6 mi route

1 summit • 10.6 mi • 3,621 ft gain • 7 hr 57 min

Humphreys Peak 11.0 mi route

1 summit • 11.0 mi • 3,512 ft gain • 7 hr 49 min

Humphreys Peak 7.5 mi route

1 summit • 7.5 mi • 3,333 ft gain • 6 hr 31 min

Humphreys Peak 9.0 mi route

1 summit • 9.0 mi • 3,622 ft gain

Latest summits

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"There are some days when I just don’t have it. Today was one of those days. I prepared as usual and drove to the trailhead. However, until I got out on the trail, I just didn’t have the energy. I knew this early on but I kept pushing forward. Finally after 3 miles, I felt the need to throw in the towel. I sat down on a boulder and contemplated the situation. The exact reason why I was even in Arizona was to climb this peak. Am I just going to give up? I noticed the time was about 9 AM, so what am I going to do with the rest of the day if I have no energy? I also realized that it is unlikely that I would ever attempt this again. After about 10 minutes of deep thought, I felt a little more energized. I decided to press forward more and hope for the best. I began making progress, and before long I was at a point of no return. I had to continue to the summit now! It certainly took me longer than I expected, but I didn’t care. I stood on top of the mountain. (State High Point #4)." — Peak-Conquistador • Jul 25, 2019

"15.45km return with 1,200m gain in 4:30hrs. Some de-tour on descent. My belt got broken right at the trailhead. It was ok during the ascent, but had to hold onto and pull up my pants regularly on descent :) " — alexp • Aug 13, 2018

"My first peak out west. It was so close to Flagstaff, why not? And it is a high point too. Not that I am working on that, but why not? Started around 9100 feet. Trail not difficult. Pockets of snow at higher elevation, but no issues. The summit was gusty. Happy I had my poles to help keep me upright. Had a light headache most of the time above 11,000 feet. After I got back to my car, I was nauseous for the rest of the day. Went back to the hostel to sleep it off. " — newenglandwarrior • Jun 11, 2017

"Left Phoenix at 4 am to climb Humphreys. With only 2 days in Arizona we decided to hit the Arizona high point and do a Grand Canyon day hike down South Kaibab and back up Bright Angel. Left the Snow Bowl trail at 8:00 and enjoyed the nice and easy approach up to the saddle. Being the low-elevation Washingtonians, we felt the elevation, but maintained a good pace up past the saddle, and through the false summits up to the top. Really well-marked trail, and easy to follow. As forecast, there were some pretty strong wind gusts that kept it cool. Layers were good to have and we didn't feel over-prepared watching some others coming up with nothing more than t-shirts and shorts. Nice views from the summit when the clouds broke, and we found a bit of a wind shelter amongst the summit rocks to relax. Coming down , especially past the saddle, we ran into many people coming up in the early afternoon. We had read that this trail is extremely popular, and it certainly was on a cool Sunday in late October - must be a madhouse in the summer! Up and down in 5 1/2 hours of hike time plus a half hour lunch break. Really enjoyed our first climb in Arizona, and nice to knock off ano..." — BryHong8 • Oct 29, 2016

"Late start (10:00 am). Some clouds looked threatening but the high winds up there helped clearing out the ridges. Beautiful weather overall. Thank you Chase for tagging along." — Gabsolute • Aug 8, 2016

"I started early at 4:40 am and used a flashlight for a little. The hike went well and the views began to get better as the trees thinned out. I made it to the summit and was alone there for around 20 minutes. The winds were pretty violent, making it hard to stay in the wind for long. I stayed low behind the wall, got up a little to film and take pictures, and basically just relaxed. The views were great and other than the wind it was a really enjoyable hike. I had to fight the wind for about half a mile on the way down, but once I got a bit lower it was much calmer. I made it down as fast as possible and headed back down to Gilbert, AZ. If I was in 20 degree windchill at the summit, then 110 that afternoon in Gilbert, I experienced a 90 degree temperature difference within 8 hours or so!" — ZachTeich • Jul 11, 2016

"My 19 year daughter recently moved to California to share in an adventure in living, with her other 2 sisters. I have 4 daughters and she is the only one that is interested in peakbagging. Last year my son Garret & I hiked Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in California and the lower 49 states. We had been talking about hiking Arizona’s highest Peak, Humphreys Peak, elevation 12,633 since last year. I have an interest in hiking a few western state high points. He had a new son, was moving into a new house, didn’t have much time to take off and didn’t really care to do Arizona’s highest peak, so I asked my daughter Christina. I told her I would fly her out. She was excited to go. We left the house in the Albuquerque area at 2:30 AM, July 8, 2016. There wasn’t much traffic on the freeway, and with a 75 mph speed limit we were starting to hike at 7:30 AM (6:30 AM Arizona time) We took highway 18O northwest out of Flagstaff, then between mileage marker 222 and 223 we turned north on NF Road 516 towards the ski area. It was a very cool, clear morning. The temperature was 50 degrees. Christina immediately put on a light down jacket until she warmed up from hiking. The temperature stayed..." — Phil-Robinson • Jul 8, 2016

"Mount Humphrey is not only the State Highpoint of Arizona it meant a lot more to me since it was a Las Vegas Mountaineering organized Hike by Joel Brewster and it was also my Last Peak for me to Finish up a couple of Hiking Lists. Just to name; Arizona Peaks with 2000 feet of Prominence 73/73 P3K Arizona 24/24 Arizona 20-20 Challenge Peaks 20/20 Arizona County Prominence Peaks 15/15 Arizona County High Points 15/15 What a Great Day to spend the day with some Friends at the Mountains. " — Nuernberger • Jun 25, 2016

"Didn't expect my first time up to be after a storm that dropped over 40 inches... headed up the west ridge up steep loose powder. Tried to take the summer route back but got way off trail and wound up snowshoeing the ski slopes back down. Complete TR: http://themtsarecalling.com/humphreywinter/" — Christopher • Jan 16, 2016

"It was one of my goals to hike this peak in 2015. Come October, I still had no partner, so I joined meetup. Beautiful hike with breathtaking views of fall colors and snow at the top! So excited I can now say that I've hiked Arizona's tallest peak :)" — Roselle • Oct 10, 2015

"Began hike in the morning from the lower parking area of the snowbowl using the Humphreys Peak Tr. I had to bail on this hike the day before due to storms on the mountain. But today, skies started out cloudy but cleared over the course of the morning. By mid morning skies were mostly clear and I was able to make the summit by around 11:45. I had looked at doing this hike since around 2007. In that time I moved away from Arizona in 2008 and returned again in early 2014. So it was nice to finally get to the top of this peak after so many years of it lingering on my most wanted list." — LZ • Aug 21, 2015

"Started just before 8am. This is a busy trail. LOTS of cars in the parking lot already. We were nervous about getting to the top and across the exposed summit ridge before any thunderstorms popped up. Made it to the summit at about 10:15am, and the clouds were building! A little rain as we scampered back down. A great hike...way better than the previous day we spent in Vegas, where it was 100+ degrees! Also, if you were dropped here blindfolded, I don't think you'd ever guess it was Arizona." — benjineer • Aug 9, 2015

"First trip to the summit. Long day, but worth it. It was a clear day and we could see the North Rim of the Grand canyon to the north and the red rocks of Sedona to the south." — lawrencebaker • Jul 25, 2015

"I finally made it to the highest point in AZ!! It was a perfect day for it. Lots of snow still on the ground but perfect hiking weather. Lots of people on the trail, but not many of them making it to the top. " — DerekJayRichardson • May 2, 2015

"Unmarked trails until the ridgeline, there is a matrix of trails through the snow which don't matter much on the ascent. But, on the descent, these became very difficult to navigate" — gingervine • Mar 17, 2015

"Beautiful day in the mountains. Went with 2 guys I have just recently met. We left Phoenix around 5AM and drove straight to Flagstaff. We met with the Ranger at Snowbowl to get backcountry permits and left the trailhead around 9:50AM. It was a very nice, sunny day with little wind. The conditions were a little slower than two weeks prior. Because I was traveling with these 2 guys my time was much slower. Dave and I finished over 2 hours earlier than the third guy. We sat at the ski resort and drank a couple post summit Bloody Marys and enjoyed the scenery. I finally made it home around 10:30PM. It made for a long day." — darinwilson • Mar 9, 2014

"Great day and conditions on the mountain. Ascent in 2:29. Coming down I lost the trail and slugged through knee high and waist deep snow. There was a moment when I thought I might be spending the night on the mountain. Luckily after moving south for about an hour I found the trail and made it safely to the trailhead. Fun trip with a little "scary" mixed in for good measure." — darinwilson • Feb 23, 2014

"Solo summit of Humphreys Peak. Stopped on my way to Salt Lake City to climb. It was beautiful weather except for the 50-60 mph winds on the summit. Along the summit ridge the winds were a little scary, but when I was at the last 50 feet and on the summit it was very scary. These were the strongest winds I have ever encountered. I believe I followed the winter route because I climbed through the plane wreckage. I couldn't believe the amount of identifiable debris. From TrailHead to Summit: 2 hours 10 minutes. 3 hours 40 minutes round trip." — darinwilson • May 2, 2013

"Pretty good hike. The weather was perfect - very little wind, which is fairly unusual for the peak. There was quite a bit of smog though. Here a detailed trip report: http://rockymountainhikingtrails.blogspot.com/2012/11/hiking-across-tundrain-arizona.html By the way, Flaggstaff is an awesome town. Some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet." — SmokyMountainHiker • Sep 15, 2012

"An awesome day to be on a mountain. Sunny, warm, a couple of clouds. It was nice to be able to enjoy the views. The last time I went up this peak, we did it as a night hike and arrived at the summit at midnight." — StoneMan • Jun 16, 2012