Mt. Kimball

Overview

Mt. Kimball is one of the highest peaks along the southern front of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The Catalinas rise just north of Tucson, Arizona, and their forested summits often carry winter snow while far below, Tucson is warm. Like many of its neighbors, Mt. Kimball is a "sky island" - its lower slopes are desert, but as you climb higher thicker vegetation and forests appear.


Mt. Kimball from Finger Rock Canyon. Finger Rock itself is at left; Kimball is behind at right.


Although it does not present a forbidding face from most directions, Kimball still towers almost a vertical mile above Tucson and is a steep, long day trip for many hikers. The summit of Mt. Kimball also provides spectacular views into the heart of the Catalinas and of the surrounding southern Arizona desert.

Getting There

The two main routes up Mt. Kimball are Finger Rock Canyon and Pima Canyon.

For Finger Rock Canyon, take Skyline Drive, a major road that parallels the Catalinas just south of the foothills. From the intersection of Skyline and Alvernon, take Alvernon north. The road dead ends at the Finger Rock Canyon trailhead which is a long parking lot; there are some turns that lead to gated communities, but this is your spot.  There's a water fountain that works intermittently, but it's probably wiser to bring your own.  

For Pima Canyon, the trailhead starts further west. Skyline turns into Ina road; the intersection of Ina and Christie is just west.  At that intersection, go north on Christie. This street dead-ends at Magee. Turn right here, and park at the lot (it's called the Iris Dewhirst trailhead) straight ahead of you.

Red Tape

No dogs are allowed on either the Pima Canyon or the Finger Rock Canyon trails. Off-trail hiking is sometimes subject to seasonal closure, but given what off-trail hiking is like in this area (wading through fields of shindaggers and other sharp plants) this isn't usually a problem. Other than that there's no red tape.

The Highest Catalina Summits

Rank	Peak	Elevation	7.5 minute Quadrangle
1	Mount Lemmon	9,157	Mt. Lemmon
2	Mount Bigelow	8,540	Mount Bigelow
3	Marshall Peak	8,300	Mount Lemmon
4	Cathedral Rock	7,957	Mount Lemmon
5	Green Mountain	7,904	Mount Bigelow
6	Samaniego Peak	7,700	Mount Lemmon
7	UN 7693	7,693	Mount Bigelow
8	Window Peak	7,468	Mount Lemmon
9	Rose Peak	7,303	Mount Bigelow
10	UN 7281 "Guthrie Mountain"	7,281	Mount Bigelow
11	Mt. Kimball	7,258	Oro Valley
	Mule Ears	7,060	Mount Lemmon
12	Rattlesnake Peak	6,653	Sabino Canyon
13	Prominent Point	6,628	Tucson North
14	UN 6512	6,512	Agua Caliente Hill
15	Apache Peak	6,441	Oracle
	Finger Rock	6,420	Tucson North
16	Table Mountain	6,265	Oro Valley
17	UN 6191	6,191	Agua Caliente Hill
18	Airmen Peak	6,100	Agua Caliente Hill
19	UN 6060	6,060	Mount Bigelow
20	UN 6053	6,053	Mount Bigelow

Clicking on the small picture by a peak will take you to a picture of that peak.

Clicking on an underlined peak will take you to that peak's page on SummitPost.

An elevation in red is interpolated.

A more expansive list of the Catalina summits can be found here.

When to climb

Mt. Kimball can be climbed year-round, but hikers would be wise to avoid the summer months, when temperatures in Tucson often rise above 100. If you get an early enough start it's possible to be on the summit for good weather in the summer, but most hikers prefer to do the climb in the spring or fall. At the other extreme, snow and ice can sometimes be found high on Kimball in the winter months.

Looking at snowcapped Mt. Lemmon - the highest peak in the Catalinas - from the summit of Mt. Kimball.

Camping

While a climb of Mt. Kimball does not usually necessitate a high camp, camping is permitted in the Catalinas and there are some good sites at the 6850' saddle just south of the peak. Many campsites in the Catalinas have suffered heavy and incosiderate use (ie; the construction of multiple fire rings); please try to make as little impact as possible if you choose to camp here.

Conditions

Mt. Kimball is in the Coronado National Forest: https://www.fs.usda.gov/coronado/

Warning

Around a quarter-mile from the summit of Mt. Kimball, the Pima Canyon trail and Finger Rock trail intersect at the short spur trail that heads to Kimball's summit and its overlook. This intersection has (or had, in 2024) a newer sign which simply says "Mt. Kimball," and underneath that, Pima Canyon trail to the left (southwest) and Finger Rock trail to the right (southeast).  Neither one of these will take you to Mt. Kimball.  Some helpful soul has carved an arrow pointing north, and this is the way you want to go - onto the spur trail which leads in short order to the summit.

Miscellaneous Info

In 1931 Mt. Kimball was named after Frederick E. Kimball, a land developer who went on to serve in the Arizona State Senate. Kimball pushed for a road up Mt. Lemmon (the highest of the Catalina summits), and promoted the building of Summerhaven, the community just below the top of Lemmon. It is not known whether Kimball ever stood on the summit of his namesake peak.