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| Hiking | 21.50 Miles |
4,900 AEG |
| | Hiking | 21.50 Miles | | | |
| 4,900 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Italian Springs to Manning Camp
I have always had a goal of climbing all the peaks around Tucson since moving here in 1968. I hike all of them except for Mica Mountain on the top of the Rincon's. A few years ago I took up Mule riding to take me where my legs and knees would no longer carry me. I truly love the wilderness experience.
We left from Tucson and went up Reddington road 12 miles to where the Arizona trail crosses. We took the Arizona trial though rolling grassland s down to the actual trailhead. You can four-wheel drive to the trailhead and save abut a mile and a half of hiking. The trailhead starts in a sandy wash and is overgrown four wheel drive road for the first 2 to 3 miles up over the foothills of the Rincon's. It ends at a barbwire gate that lists the park boundary in 2.3 miles.
This is the worst section of the trail so pay attention to orange markers in the trees and rock piles (cairns) to guide your way. When in doubt go up. This trail is a hell of a climb. There are many burned areas and erosion in this section of the trail. We reached the gate entrance to the national park with the sign in log and the trail became much nicer with rock steps and more burned area. Italian spring is fairly unimpressive and not well developed moist spot in the ground. I would recommend traveling to Manning Camp or Spud rock from here on a day hike if you have come this far. Turn south or UPHILL at Italian spring to fire loop trail. Go right or west on fire loop trail to the next junction and go straight to the peak on Mica Mountain and Spud rock or left downhill to Manning camp. I believe the trail name is the Bonita trail. I would recommend a GPS, it saved me because the trail names do not match anything on any map that I have. The best map is the Rincon Mountain hiking TOPO map sold at local hiking stores. We camped for two nights at manning camp and watched a herd of fearless deer graze around our campsite. They have great corrals with water at manning camp . The bathrooms are brand new and stocked with real toilet paper. The campsites have a cement fire ring with bear boxes and must be reserved in advance for a 6 dollar fee at the old Spanish trail park office. Nighttime temperatures were below freezing.
The views from spud rock to the west and the reef rock to the east are worth taking a loop hike around the top of the mountain.
The Italian Spring Trail is a lot of elevation change with great views along the way. It is the shortest route to Mica Mountain and Spud rock. The top of the Rincon's is a great ponderosa sky island in the midst of desert. Spring and fall are the bet times to be there. I will attempt to upload my GPS data and some pictures. I am also way to old for computers |
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Route Editor
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