[BackPackJack]

Hello to all, my wife and i are new to the Tucson area and are looken for help on special places to hike on MT Lemmon! We enjoy hiking and are planning on enjoying the cooler temps on the mountain, we would love to hike into a natural spring or kind of natural water source that someone might know of that is " off the beaten path", we are planning on headen up this weekend! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks again, Jack

[Jim Lyding]

Don't know about off-trail springs. Some of my favorites are Aspen Draw and Butterfly.

[writelots]

we would love to hike into a natural spring or kind of natural water source that someone might know of that is " off the beaten path"

Unfortunately, because water is such a precious commodity in the desert, there really aren't many dependable water sources that aren't the subject of intense interest - particularly this time of year when water is even more rare and the need for swimming holes is so much more pronounced. Pretty much the only dependable water up there right now is in Lemmon Creek, which you can reach via either the Lemmon Rock Trail or the Mt. Lemmon Trail and the Wilderness of Rocks (makes a nice loop). Marshall Gulch might have a little, but it's pretty popular and an easy walk, so it sees a lot of traffic.

A good bet for finding a nice hike is the TrailDEX - just enter Tucson as your region and Pusch Ridge as your wilderness preferences and you'll get a long list of great hikes up there. Filter again by month and you'll see what is doable in July/August. It's a great tool!

[joe bartels]

Welcome to HAZ BPJ,

Your list of options is short on Lemmon aside from the wonderful Wilderness of Rocks area. If you can swing it over to Mount Graham your options are more plentiful.

Example overview of perennial creek Hikes in the vicinity, you'll notice far more on Mount Graham. Nevertheless you can find spring locations all over.
Simply right click anywhere on the map, then click the Aqua Green dot to find springs. Most are probably dry but the fun is finding out

[jeffmacewen]

It's going to be hard to find a spring off the beaten path up there. Maverick might be one option, but you'll likely encounter one or two other groups along the way...

[BackPackJack]

Thank yopu all for your sugestions and replys!! Were gonna check out mt. lemmon this weekend and do a liitle cross country hiking an check out some spots that members sugested! Ill let ya know how we do!

[azbackpackr]

Sounds fun. I think I am actually going to get back there myself in a couple weeks, after not having seen the place for 11 years or so.