Temperature gauge is showing the car overheating

The temperature gauge is showing the car overheating just a few minutes into driving, but when I pull over the engine seems no warmer than usual. When I started up again, the gauge showed normal temperature for the first few minutes, then suddenly skyrocketed to overheating. Again, pulled over and engine seemed normal. Finally drove the car home with temperature gauge showing just under the red zone almost the whole way (about 30 minutes), yet when I got home the engine still didn't seem unusually warm, and I was able to put my hand on the hood no problem. This sound like a problem with my gauge, the thermostat, or something else entirely?