Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Circuit Hikes of Southern Arizona
    Circuit Hikes of Southern Arizona
    Circuit Hikes of Southern Arizona
    Ebook153 pages1 hour

    Circuit Hikes of Southern Arizona

    By Robert Zimmerman

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    "Circuit Hikes of Southern Arizona" is an easy-to-use guidebook, describing the many circuit hikes hidden in the mountains surrounding Tucson and throughout southern Arizona.

    The guide includes 32 specific hikes with an additional two dozen options, with hikes ranging from so easy you can take your toddlers to so strenuous you will want to train for weeks beforehand. Each hike comes with an easy-to-read topo map, as well as detailed instructions for route-finding. The guide also provides information about the best seasons to do each hike as well as general information about the history and geology of the surrounding mountains.

    The guide not only includes some of the best known circuit hikes of southern Arizona, it also includes a number of previously unpublished trails that take you to places rarely seen by most hikers.

    The author, Robert Zimmerman, is an award-winning science journalist and space historian who likes to spend his weekends hiking, caving, and in general exploring the hidden outdoor gems of the American southwest.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublishereBookIt.com
    Release dateApr 26, 2016
    ISBN9781456623548
    Circuit Hikes of Southern Arizona

    Read more from Robert Zimmerman

    Related to Circuit Hikes of Southern Arizona

    Related ebooks

    Special Interest Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Shenandoah NATIONAL PARK

      Dec 5, 2023

      Shenandoah NATIONAL PARK
      3 min read

    • Article

      Which Island Is It Anyway?

      Apr 9, 2024

      Which Island Is It Anyway?
      2 min read

    • Article

      Descents

      Nov 15, 2021

      Descents
      15 min read

    • Article

      What If?

      Dec 14, 2021

      What If?
      17 min read

    • Article

      A Healthy Dose of Information

      Jun 18, 2019

      A Healthy Dose of Information
      3 min read

    • Article

      Running the TRAPLINE

      May 11, 2018

      Running the TRAPLINE
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Big Three:

      Dec 14, 2021

      Population density can become one of the biggest dangers to your safety and wellbeing, before, during, and in the aftermath of a crisis or public emergency. There’s a very simple reason for this — during a crisis, these areas are likely to experience

      1 min read

    • Article

      Gear Up

      Dec 14, 2021

      Gear Up
      6 min read

    • Article

      At Hom E In The Inhospitable

      Dec 14, 2021

      At Hom E In The Inhospitable
      15 min read

    • Article

      BJØREIØ The Norwegian Paradox

      Aug 5, 2021

      BJØREIØ The Norwegian Paradox
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Evolution Of A Wolf Trapper

      Jul 9, 2021

      The Evolution Of A Wolf Trapper
      8 min read

    • Article

      It's Cool To Travel When It's Cool

      Jun 7, 2020

      It's honestly cool to travel when it's cool, and here's why. In winter most people hibernate because leaving the comfort of your warm snuggly home to go seek adventure isn't always inviting. Game changer, what if the adventure came to you, right on

      4 min read

    • Article

      Ireland’s Cliffs And Coves

      Sep 2, 2021

      Ireland’s Cliffs And Coves
      6 min read

    • Article

      Shi Shi Beach

      Sep 11, 2021

      Shi Shi Beach
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Conscious Traveller Is It Difficult To Travel Vegan?

      Oct 15, 2020

      I recently attended a kai-kai feast on Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea, arranged to honour a local man’s near-death escape from drowning. Observing such a rich cultural event is one of the reasons I travel, yet having embraced a plant-based,

      2 min read

    • Article

      Medicinal Garden

      Aug 15, 2023

      Medicinal Garden
      6 min read

    • Article

      Stop The Bleeding

      Oct 26, 2021

      Stop The Bleeding
      7 min read

    • Article

      The First Americans

      Nov 30, 2021

      The First Americans
      1 min read

    • Article

      Beginner’s Guide To Hiking

      Apr 22, 2022

      Beginner’s Guide To Hiking
      3 min read

    • Article

      Dark The Side Of Christmas

      Nov 23, 2023

      Dark The Side Of Christmas
      5 min read

    • Article

      Van Life Lite

      Oct 15, 2018

      Van Life Lite
      4 min read

    • Article

      An Ancient Mastodon Ignited a Debate Over Humans' Arrival in North America

      Dec 25, 2017

      "Oh my God," Richard Cerutti said to himself. He bent down to pick up a sharp, splintered bone fragment. Its thickness and weight told him that it belonged to an animal, a very big animal. His mind started to race. He was standing at the foot of a sl

      13 min read

    • Article

      Historical Map Websites

      Feb 16, 2021

      Historical Map Websites
      1 min read

    • Article

      Walks to Change Your Life

      May 12, 2023

      Walks to Change Your Life
      12 min read

    • Article

      Short and Sweet

      May 13, 2021

      Short and Sweet
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Circuit Hikes of Southern Arizona

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Circuit Hikes of Southern Arizona - Robert Zimmerman

      author.

      Acknowledgments

      This book would not have been possible without the endless willingness of my wife Diane to go with me to some obscure and sometimes not-so-enjoyable bushwhacks. I also must extend my thanks to Belinda Norby for her advice and help in locating some of the lesser known undocumented loops in this guide. Thanks also go to Randi Steiner and Diane for their willingness to test my directions so that future hikers will not be confused by them.

      Bibliography

      If you want to hike in southern Arizona, the following four books cover just about everything (except circuit hikes). Betty Leavenworth's Tucson Hiking Guide provides the best list of nearby Tucson hikes. Erik Molnar's Hiking Arizona's Cactus Country is more complete, but less detailed and includes many challenging routes that are off trail. Leonard Taylor's Trails of the Huachucas is the essential trail guide for exploring the Huachuca mountains, while The Santa Catalina Mountains, a guide to the trails and routes by Peter Cowgill and Eber Glendening (now sadly out of print) will tell you everything you need to know about the Santa Catalinas.

      Introduction

      Why this guide?

      I am loopy. Both my wife Diane and I have found that the best hike is the circuit hike. Though we like hikes that go there and back, we find that a circuit hike challenges you in a much better way. Unlike a there-and-back-again hike, where you can choose to turn around at almost any time, a circuit hike requires you to complete it. The result is that you do, making you a stronger and better hiker. Healthy also!

      When we moved to Tucson in 2011, however, we soon discovered a lack of documented circuit hikes. All the hiking books I could locate were wonderful resources (see bibliography above), but I was surprised by how few circuit hikes they described.

      Thus, Diane and I began to search them out. And since I am a writer by profession I figured it wouldn't take much additional work to document our travels as we went. The result is this guide.

      Overview of the region

      The city of Tucson is ringed by five mountain ranges: Santa Ritas on the south, Tucson Mountains on the west, Tortolitas on the northwest, Santa Catalinas on the north, and the Rincon Mountains on the east. Furthermore, the city is embraced on the east and west by the two districts of Saguaro National Park.

      This book, centered at the city of Tucson, takes you into all these mountains and parks. I have also included a number of additional hikes in mountains beyond this ring, all close enough that they can be completed in a single day.

      With the Santa Catalinas, the Santa Ritas, and the Tucson Mountains, I have tried to provide a pretty complete description of all the circuit hikes available. With the Tucson Mountains in particular I have provided detailed information because the trails in this mountain range are very poorly documented. Several are not described in any hiking book that I can find, while one is not only not described anywhere, the junctions to it are hard to find. This book now makes these hikes available to the outdoor hiking community.

      With the Rincons, I have provided fewer detailed descriptions because most of the circuit hikes in this mountain range are either very long or require an overnight backpack. I have still provided options for six circuit hikes, so the reader will not feel shortchanged.

      As for the Tortolitas, the hikes there are only now being developed. If you go, be sure to pick up a trail map at the Wild Burro Canyon trailhead, as this will show you a number of additional options. It will also give you the most up-to-date information, which will likely include newer trails that were not yet available or completed when this book went to press.

      In addition, this book includes a sampling of additional circuit hikes in the Whetstone, Dragoon, Huachuca, and Chiricahua Mountains, all east of Tucson.

      When to hike where with what

      As a general rule, the hikes in the Tucson and Tortolita Mountains as well as Saguaro National Park are all best hiked in the winter, while the high elevation hikes in the Santa Catalinas are best done in summer. The Santa Ritas can be done all year round.

      In every case, however, check the weather before you head out so that you are aware of conditions at that time of year. In this matter the Boy Scouts are 100% right: Be prepared!

      In that context I am required to give some very basic and essential advice about hiking in southern Arizona: Bring water. Wear a hat. Bring water. Use sunscreen. Bring water. Carry enough food. Bring water. Wear the proper hiking boots.

      And did I mention you should bring water? The worst thing you can do in a hot desert environment is to not drink your water because you are afraid you will run out. Bring more than you need, preferably in a hydration bladder that allows you to drink as you hike, and drink it!

      I have found that having about 3 liters for every 6 miles will generally be more than sufficient, though when it gets above 110ºF it is necessary to have more.

      Even with this advice, you are on your own. No advice in any guidebook can replace personal responsibility and common sense. The desert is a harsh environment. Respect it, and use your brains so that you will be prepared for its hazards.

      Using this guidebook

      As an ebook you can take this guidebook with you using your ebook reader, your tablet, or your smart phone. If however bright sunlight makes your device hard to read, you can also print a hike beforehand, and carry that with you instead.

      The directions to all hikes begin at the intersection of Grant Road and Interstate I-10 (Exit 256). This is a good central location, and provides an easy starting point for anyone in southern Arizona for finding the trailheads for all of these hikes. The hikes are listed beginning close to this starting point in the northwest of Tucson and then heading east.

      The hikes are labeled from extremely easy to strenuous. The factors that determine these rankings are hike length, elevation gain, and how much route-finding is necessary. Generally, if a hike has less than 1,000 feet of elevation gain I will rank it as easy, under 2,000 feet will be considered moderate, and greater than 2,000 feet that will be considered strenuous.

      With each hike I give the elevation range. I also provide the elevations at certain key points in each hike to indicate sections where there is a significant ascent or descent.

      On the maps, trailhead parking is indicated by a black square, with the hike itself indicated by a large dotted blue line. Optional side trips are indicated by a small dotted blue line.

      Unofficial trails

      This guidebook includes a number of unofficial trails not included on official park maps, what officials call wildcat trails. Though not maintained, I have been very careful to only include trails that are well designed, follow intelligent and established routes, and are, because of their practicality and popularity, certainly never going to go away, no matter how much park officials try to eliminate them. These trails are routes to certain interesting features, to mountain tops, or to places not accessible otherwise. Some help complete natural and obvious loops. All have been so well established that they might as well be official trails.

      Because these trails sometimes go places that are very sensitive, I strongly request my readers to respect the delicate nature of these areas. Do not cut across switchbacks, as that causes erosion. Stay on the trails that exist whenever you can. If you need to bushwhack, try to do it as gently as possible.

      And above all, leave

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1