Being in Tucson and missing out on Sabino Canyon is a tragedy. Sabino Canyon is a natural desert oasis located in the Coronado National forest and is home to numerous eco habitats, rare species of trees, animals and birds. It’s a perfect place for a family picnic or maybe you can quench your thirst of nature photography with the sun playing hide and seek behind overgrown pear cacti. The Canyon also offers the pleasure of walking through miles and miles of wilderness that is teeming with wildlife.

Located in southern foothills of the Catalina Mountain Range, Sabino Canyon is easily accessible by taking Sunrise Drive east until you run into Sabino Canyon Drive. Sabino Canyon is a very popular hiking destination and offers several trails of varying skill levels.

Blackett’s Ridge Trail

An adventurer’s prescription of the day will be the Blackett’s Ridge Trail. It is called the classic hike of Sabino Canyon and you can wander through the thick vegetation and over the ridge that lies between the Sabino Canyon and Bear Canyon. It begins where the phoneline trail ends and is an upward climb through a forest of ocotillo and saguaro but once you reach Blackett’s Ridge you will find spectacular views of Tucson and Mt. Lemmon.

Facts

Length of the trail: 1.7 miles

Highest elevation change in the trail: 4410 feet

Best Season: Anytime

Hutch’s Pool Trail

Who can turn down an inviting pool of water in the middle of the desert? Nestled in the Catalina Mountains and surrounded by bare rock faces, Hutch’s Pool Trail is one of the top attractions of Sabino Canyon. A word of caution for those of you eager to Beat the Arizona Heat: the depth of the pool is nearly 45 feet in the center.

Facts

Length of the trail: 4.1 miles

Best Season: Anytime

Seven Falls Trail

This natural wonder is also situated in the Sabino Park recreational area. It is an easy hike to the waterfall which has been formed due to rainwater flowing down from high above in the Catalina Mountains. This hike is great for beginner’s because of it’s length and the serenity of the water feature caps off a scenic trek up the trail. This is personally one of my favorite hikes and I’ve been three times just in the past few months.

Facts

Length of the trail: 2.2 miles from Bear Canyon

Entry Fees
Day Pass: $5: valid only for one day
Weekly Pass: $10
Annual Pass: $20

Rules
No pets
No glass containers
Alcohol, weapons, cars and nudity is prohibited (haha)
You can’t remove any plants or flowers
If you are looking for a quick day trip than consider taking a jaunt up to Sabino Canyon. Be sure to bring a camera!

Links of Reference
Tucson Parks & Recreation

Accommodations

Sabino Canyon Information

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Now that summer is in full swing and ninety degree weather would be welcomed with open arms (compared to what we’ve been getting) I thought it would be a good idea to talk about some ways to deal with the heat. Most of this is probably common knowledge to those of us living here but for visitors and potential Tucsonans it might be useful information.

Use sunshades in your car and crack your windows. With temperatures reaching more than one hundred degrees regularly the interior or your car can easily reach upwards of one hundred sixty degrees! Put up some sunshades to keep the heat down a little bit and leave a window slightly cracked to allow your air to breathe a bit. Unfortunately some people fail to understand just how dangerous that kind of heat can be and go and do something dumb like leave their animals in the car while shopping at the supermarket. Worse yet are the stories we hear every year about children being left in a hot, parked cars. Jay over at his PhoenixRealEstateGuy blog just wrote about 3-month old Amberlee Elizabeth Brown whose father left her in a car for nearly two hours; her core temp was 109 degrees when paramedics arrived and unfortunately she passed away Friday morning. Sad stuff.

Exercise early or late. The city is alive with with running, power-walking, child-strolling Tucsonans in the summertime between 5-7am; after that it starts it starts to heat up pretty quick and exercising outside isn’t exactly pleasant. The exercising brigade starts up again in the evening hours as the sun is starting to go down because of the cooling weather. As someone who carries a gym membership (I’m guilty of rarely using it) I can tell you that gyms tend to fill up pretty quickly before work, at lunchtime, and just after work.

Drink plenty of water. This one is mostly common sense but even I sometimes get behind on the water-drinking curve. The normal convention says that you should drink 2 liters a day and more when exercising.

“By the time one becomes thirsty, it is possible to already be slightly dehydrated. Further, be aware that as you get older your body is less able to sense dehydration and send your brain signals of thirst.”

For visitors and new Tucsonans it is probably a good idea to use lotion and lip balm your first few days here because the dry weather hits some people harder than others. Best to play it safe and stay moisturized until you’ve become acclimated, humidifiers might also be a good idea.

Take a drive up to Mount Lemmon!

Located about 30 miles north of Tucson on the Catalina Highway, Mount Lemmon is a great summer weekend getaway jaunt with temperatures twenty to thirty degrees cooler than Tucson. Be sure to stop by the mountaintop town of Summerhaven and have a slice of their renowned homemade pie.

Just a couple quick tips to beat the Arizona heat, if anyone else has suggestions feel free to leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list!

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