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| Pistol Hill to Hope Camp, AZ | |
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| | Pistol Hill to Hope Camp, AZ | | | |
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Pistol Hill to Hope Camp, AZ
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This segment of the Arizona Trail will take you through the heart of the Rincon Valley and will provide lovely views of the Rincon Mountains: Rincon Peak, Mica Mt, Helen's Dome and Tanque Verde Ridge as well as views of the Empire Range and the Santa Rita Mts.
The mellow, meandering and nearly smooth trail makes for a very pleasant hike. Although as of this writing (Dec 2020) the desert is desperately dry there is still much to see and enjoy.
In particular the towering Saguaros, the remnants of a once dense cactus forest which was nearly destroyed by cattle grazing.
You will also see banana yucca, chain-fruit and stag horn cholla, Englemann prickly pear, palo verde, ocotillo, creosote bush and many mesquite trees. In other words - typical lowland Sonoran desert.
After 4.4 miles of north bound hiking you will arrive at Hope Camp in the Saguaro National Monument. This is a fun place to poke around the old cattle camp and there are plenty of shady spots to set a spell and take it all in.
The Pistol Hill parking area is very easy to find is only 8 miles from I-10.
The parking area is a bit rough around the edges and on the small side so it may get busy on weekends.
More info:
Pistol Hill Parking area:
https://goo.gl/maps/x3JSXdd4ai4MvcsH6
Saguaro National Park Rincon valley information sheet:
https://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/ ... 2011-2.pdf
Google MyMap of the this route:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... sp=sharing
Tucson's Ronstadt Family
https://parentseyes.arizona.edu/ronstadtfamily |
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