Did this hike last weekend for the first time. Got to the mountain around 730AM and there were already 20 cars parked on the street for the Cholla trail. It's a short walk to the mountain from there.
I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, I played college football and I still workout 4x a week. The Cholla trail definitely wasn't a walk in the park. It's very doable if you're in good shape but don't expect to dominate this if your fitness levels aren't high. Saw another review mentioning a rattlesnake or possibly hearing one, I didn't see one sign of wildlife or snakes.
Obviously from the pictures the top is amazing, we spent some time taking pictures and then headed back down, the wrong way.
We ended up taking the Echo Canyon Trail back down and it looks like a pretty big challenge. The last 15-20 minutes of the hike was climbing up rocks. There were other parts that would seem hard if you're climbing up including rock stairs with a railing. If you're looking for a good workout this is definitely the side you should try.
We brought 6 water bottles and went through 5 and it wasn't any hotter than 85 degrees so come prepared and make sure you hydrate the night before.