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Back in the Tucson area and getting back into hiking / backpacking after a little over 20 years. Before jumping in with a “real” trip I wanted to do a quick overnight just to make sure that I have my gear dialed in and give myself a much-needed refresher.

I’m looking for something reasonably close to Tucson where I can find a nice campsite at elevation without having to do a lot of hiking. Best case would be to start mid day, walk in a couple of miles, pick a spot and setup camp, then walk out the next morning. Prior to Bighorn I would have hiked down a little ways down on the front or back side of Lemmon, but that’s not an option now with the area closures.

Can anyone recommend a good spot in the Catalinas that is currently open? Molino Basin / Sycamore Canyon / Sabino East Fork would all work, but I’m honestly in the mood for something a bit more forested. Does anyone have any recent experience with the lower part of the Green Mountain trail or any part of the Bug Springs trail?

Santa Ritas would also work and I know a few spots within a couple of miles of the Roundup trailhead, but I’d really like to keep it closer to Tucson as I live in the Catalina Foothils.

@andrewp
Day of week will be an important piece of info. Tue - Thu would certainly broaden your options, while Costco would offer more solitude Sat & Sun than any of the packing trails around here right now. My pick would be Cave Canyon via Gardner Canyon Road.

[ Cave Canyon :: map ]

For my purposes (from Ina @ Oracle), this drive is just as close as those lower reaches of the Catalinas, the hike would start at ~5,700', climbing ~470' in ~1-1/2 mi to the old Rock Candy Mine. Don't hold your breath on water running right now (though that's pretty much anywhere), but the term forested definitely fits. You'll find plenty of nice, large, flat spots for comfortable camping.

I was camping in that general area the last week of September and it was bone dry in the area back then. But from my house north of Matt's it took us about 90 minutes in Friday afternoon rush hour traffic and competing with the toy haulers on Gardner Canyon to find our spot to camp. But very pretty back there.

Mountain_Rat wrote:Day of week will be an important piece of info. Tue - Thu would certainly broaden your options

Good point... Weekend nights are easiest as I can just decide and go, but I can make any day work with a little more advance planning.

Costco would offer more solitude Sat & Sun than any of the packing trails around here right now.

Sadly too true. We spent a long weekend in Madera Canyon at a friend’s cabin and every trail was packed with people who were under the impression that the entire mountain wanted to listen to their mindless babble.

My pick would be Cave Canyon via Gardner Canyon Road

I’ve been contemplating a longer trip for the spring that would be in via Cave Canyon and out via Gardner Canyon but didn’t think of that area as an option for this trip. My only concern is being too remote on this trip. Although I don’t anticipate issues I do wonder if I would be better off being on a more well-traveled path just in case I get into trouble.

Thank you both @Mountain_Rat and @SpiderLegs for the input. Much appreciated!

@andrewp
If midweek is an option, then up around Summer Haven might be your best bet, but with a longer drive time. Marshall Gulch would be a good starting point, and with a short hike into the Wilderness Of Rocks area you'll come upon a an acceptable campsite (there are many). It could well be busy even through the week being it's one of the few places to camp up there right now.

@Mountain_Rat
So I take it that Wilderness of Rocks area has reopened? I haven't been following the news about what's open and what isn't. But I will be moving to Tucson for two or three months on about December 3rd.

Gardner Canyon road does require a bit of clearance if you drive in. Couple of the stream crossings are narrow and steep enough that it keeps almost everyone with a toy hauler out once you get closer to the trailhead.

azbackpackr wrote: ↑Nov 24 2020 8:04 am @Mountain_Rat
So I take it that Wilderness of Rocks area has reopened? I haven't been following the news about what's open and what isn't. But I will be moving to Tucson for two or three months on about December 3rd.

The info from the Forest Service is confusing at best. They list specific trails which are closed (and Wilderness of Rocks is one of those) as well as trails which are partially open. The published notice refers to the burn scar as being restricted, but on the published maps the legend lists the grey color as “Bighorn Fire Scar Open.” All of the trails in the grey area are marked closed, but a number of the FS roads in that area are marked as open.

It gets really confusing with the Lower Green Mtn trail which is listed as open in the notice and shown as such on the map, but they never define how much of the trail is “lower” vs “upper”. What worse is that the written notice states that open trails are only open up to the edge of the burned area whether there is a posted restriction or not, but the map shows the trail as open through the burn scar up to the junction with Guthrie Mtn trail.

Simply from the posted restrictions and the map I had assumed that Wilderness of Rocks was completely off-limits.

@azbackpackr
@andrewp
Clear As Mud!!! Setting aside the political merry-go-round, a dozen or more SOBO, AZTers have marked their passage through the Catalinas over this month, and no, not on the bypass. I've seen water and trail condition reports from Oracle Ridge, to WOR, to Hutch's Pool to Sycamore Res...
Bottom line is that in the absence of clear direction, the hikers coalesced on an interpretation that the AZT is opened through the Catalinas, and have made the trek. I have hiked some trails that may or may not be open. I have made phone calls to the same office on consecutive days, asking the same specific questions, and getting different answers. Your guess is as good as anyone else's at this point. The only thing that seems clear to me is that the FS wants this to remain unclear. I have seen no sign of ANY reconstruction or stabilization efforts on the trails I've visited, nor have I seen any FS personnel or vehicle on any of my recent outings. I'm starting to think that they spent their budget on beer & smokes and now they don't want us seeing that nothing got done with all that money and all those resources for all these months.

I now surrender the floor to the Wiki-Warriors & other Keyboard-Kommandos to present their "nuh-huh".

@SpiderLegs
@andrewp
That's right, the road does get a tad rough after Apache Spring, so not so good without a x-over or truck.

Mountain_Rat wrote:I have seen no sign of ANY reconstruction or stabilization efforts on the trails I've visited, nor have I seen any FS personnel or vehicle on any of my recent outings. I'm starting to think that they spent their budget on beer & smokes and now they don't want us seeing that nothing got done with all that money and all those resources for all these months.

Sans reconstruction of SR-88 (Apache Trail).... sigh...

@azbackpackr As I understand the Bighorn Fire closure maps, Wilderness of Rocks is closed.

@PrestonSands
Okay, thanks. That's kind of what I thought, because it seems that local backpackers I know who post on social media have been going elsewhere.

@PrestonSands The forest order text and accompanying map is clear, but as Matt correctly points out, Coronado NF is managed by a team of monkeys so guidance and enforcement when speaking to rangers in person does not remotely align with the order. Plenty of folks have been hiking all over the published closure WITH the verbal approval of FS employees who apparently have no idea (or at least don’t care) what that the order says. It’s government ineptitude at its finest.