Sabino Canyon in Tucson, AZ

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Over the next couple of days I will be peppering in some stops I made on my trip to the Tucson, AZ area last week. I have to before I completely forget. Sabino Canyon is a national recreation area with 20+ miles of trails through the canyons, is located about 15 minutes east of the Catalina Foothills and northeast of Tucson city center. $8 per car admission. They do offer a guided tour via trolley, as no cars are allowed to drive up the canyon, but requires a reservation and is $12 round trip (round trip lasts an hour). They drive you up and down and stop several times to explain history and culture. I was interested in learning but we missed the info that a reservation was required and it was all booked. They have several trails, some very short and easy-and the longer ones are more difficult. We created a long loop and ended up hiking 12 miles (without getting lost!) part of those miles were about 2 miles uphill on the paved canyon road to connect two trails. Otherwise, it was rocky, rough, and lung-bursting on the more difficult one-but once you made it up to the side of the canyon (pictured) it was a breeze and relatively flat until near the end of it. We didn’t do the hardest trail, but did the “moderate-difficult” trail. Some history I looked up about the location: 6,000-8,000 years ago the Native American Hohokam people lived here. In 1887, the Sonoran earthquake caused boulders to fall into the valley, making it the rocky canyon it is now. My observations/take away: *Busiest park in Tucson area when I visited (and this was on a Monday) *Fantastic maps. Well marked trails-although if accessing trails from the paved canyon road, be sure to look closely (one of ours was slightly hidden and we missed it). Maps give decent information on what you’re “in for” *Beautiful desert scenery that changes. The scenery is diverse, too- there’s a creek, a dam, sandy washes, canyons, and of course, plenty of cacti to go around *Trails for all skill levels *For those unable to hike, the guided trolley tour seemed like a good opportunity *Diverse trails! Scrambling up rocks, uphill, flat, one trail you must cross a creek... *Quite a few restrooms and water fill up places along the paved road *Absolutely NO cell service when in the canyons it seemed. So, be extra careful! I enjoyed this park and would return here. I often overlook these recreation areas, but this one had a lot of trails! Did not see any wildlife on this overcast day but plenty of evidence that it’s out there (poop). Only birds and chipmunks is what we saw. I’m OK with that, too. Attached is a photo of me up a few hundred feet on the side of the canyon. My relief after climbing several hundred feet... Uffda