Located a few miles up the Mount Lemmon Highway, the Babad Do’ag Trail follows an old bulldozer track up MacDougal Ridge on the southern flanks of the Santa Catalina Mountains. This old route had been nearly forgotten until the trail was rebuilt and renamed during the 17 year Mt Lemmon Highway road improvement project which…
Category: Activities
King Canyon Trail
The King Canyon Trail is an excellent way to enjoy Saguaro National Park West, which protects a major portion of the Tucson Mountains west of Tucson, Arizona. The Sonoran Desert ecosystem is on full display along the trail, featuring Saguaro cactus groves, Ironwood trees and Jojoba shrubs, to name just a few plant species. Wasson…
Sweetwater Trail
One of the four mountain ranges that cradle the Tucson valley, the Tucson Mountains are home to Saguaro National Park West and the world renowned Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. The range is a showpiece for the Sonoran Desert and its exotic ecosystem of desert-adapted plants and animals. Wasson Peak and the Sweetwater Trail The Tucson Mountains…
50 Year Trail
The 50 Year Trail on the west side of the Santa Catalina Mountains is a magical place. It’s hard to explain why really; this network of trails does not go up one of the many scenic and rugged canyons, but rather loops around on the shallow ridges and washes below the range. It was cloudy…
Open Climbing Season at Cochise Stronghold
Chris tries to tell me what to expect on the fourth pitch: when my quads will start to burn in the layback, the point where I won’t be able to see my gear placements, and when I’ll be far enough above my last piece that I’ll just have to gun it to better ground. I…
Seven Cataracts of Willow Canyon
Canyoneering in southern Arizona? Well, maybe nothing like the deep, dark slots and long rappels of Zion and other areas on the Colorado Plateau but yes, there are many canyons scattered about that present challenging scrambling and sometimes require rope and rappels to successfully navigate. The idea behind canyoneering is simple really; find an interesting…
Aliso Spring
Established in 1984, the Rincon Mountain Wilderness provides a protective buffer on three sides of Saguaro National Park East in southern Arizona. With few trails and often remote access points, this wilderness area is rugged, steep and blissfully neglected. One of the few trails in the wilderness area climbs the broad southern flanks of Rincon…
Finger Rock Canyon and Mt Kimball
The top of Mt Kimball, a wooded summit that sits at the head of Finger Rock Canyon, is curiously non-descript considering its magnificent location. The headwaters of several rugged canyons in the Santa Catalina Mountains originate on the high slopes of Mt Kimball, including Montrose, Pima, and Finger Rock Canyons. Finger Rock Canyon is one…
Mt Lemmon’s Meadow Trail Loop
Short and sweet, this little hike is a pleasant 2.2 mile walk very near the top of Mt. Lemmon, the high point of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. It’s a great place to stretch the legs and enjoy a quiet walk among the cool pines after a drive up the Catalina Highway, and…
Mt Wrightson’s Old Baldy Trail
The hike up Mt Wrightson is one of the very finest outings in southern Arizona. At 9,453 feet, Mt Wrightson is the high point of the Santa Rita Mountains and also the highest of all the peaks surrounding the Tucson valley. The mountain is named in honor of William Wrightson who was killed by Apaches…