Hiking/Biking suggestions for Tucson, AZ area

[bobandgeri]

We are planning a week in Tucson in early November to do some hiking, and mountain biking. If anyone has been in that area in the past and can recommend some trails/rides, or resources we would appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[Snowflea]

I passed through Tucson verrrrry recently. (The weather is a beautiful 75 degrees & sunny today!!)

The Catalina Mtns. are right there--lots of hiking opportunities.
The Santa Ritas are nearby & are beautiful. Check out the towns of Patagonia and Sonoita. There are some good links at the bottom of this page:

http://www.ultrazone.us/OP50/

Have fun!! Tucson is a wonderful place to visit when it's cold & gray in the northeast.

 

[blacklab2020]

There are endless opportunities for hiking and riding out there.

For mountain rides: I would not miss the trail up the northwest side of the rincons. There are also some good trail on the back side of lemmon for this.

For road rides... well you are in road riding heaven. There is the santa catalina highway, numerous rides through the foothills on the south side west side of the catalinas. You can extend rides into the tucson mountains to the west head south and come around or head north and come around near marana. There is saguaro national park east and west. Be sure not to miss the desert museum.

First things first.. Stop in Summit Hut on Speedway and buy a topo of the Santa Catalinas for 6 bucks.

For hikes...

Mt Lemmon & Santa Catalinas: Sabino Canyon & Hutches Pool, Seven Falls & Bear Canyon, Palisades, Summit Rocks (lemmon rock overlook, you can easily hike to the top of the fortress & Ravens...PM me about this), Finger rock canyon to window (excellent) or you can make the bushwhack variation and do the fourth class scramble to the top of the rock guard (one of the best trips, PM me for details) , Romero pools from the Santa Catalina State Park, There are also many backpacking possibilities for the Santa Catalinas (more so than any other area mentioned, due to water availability)
La milagrosa canyon;
Rincons;
Madera Canyon to the summit of Mt. Wrightson (one of my favorites, santa rita range, talk to rangers before you set out... drug trafficking is common down there)

Baboquivari mountains are absolutly beautiful for hiking&climbing though jaguars have seemed to taken a liking to the area (second largest cat and the only one that hunts for fun).

The Dragoons are a great place to hike around -- through cochise stronghold up there.

Even more remote for tucson is the Chiracauas... Excellent hiking, it is a preserved area.

The santa theresa's are also remote but very dramatic.

Picacho Peak! may be a fun climb. You will see it if you drive from PHX to Tucson or vice versa.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

 

[sleeping bear]

B&G, please post a trip report when you get back. I will be travelling to Tuscon 6 to 8 times in the next year and half for school and am hoping to do some hiking while there. I look forward to hearing and seeing what there is to do.

 

[blacklab2020]

I just remembered... that great mountain biking trail that traverses up the side of the rincons heads to "Reddington Pass"

 

[bill bowden]

Madera Canyon is a long, but easy hike

The trial I took was a 14 mile round trip that started in desert,climbed through saltbush scrub into a pinyon-juniper forest and on into a pondorose forest followed by engelmann/douglas fir and ending at a summit with a small alpine zone. While the mileage was long and the total vertical gain a bit over 4000 feet, the rise was pretty gradual. Certainly a trip I recommend. Bears are certainly found in the area (and thereby hangs a tale)

 

[blacklab2020]

http://arizona.sierraclub.org/trail_guide/HIKE20.HTM

While November is not the middle of the winter... the coldest time of year in Tucson usually corresponds very highly with the shortest day of the year... December is typically colder than January which is usally colder than febuary. Although you can wear shorts often during these months in the city @2200 feet above sea level, Snow is quite possible at the higher elevations > 8000+ feet (summits of Wrightson, Baboquivari, and Lemmon)