Tucson Mountain Park
The Tucson Mountain Park is the place to go for classic dessert trails. Riding out here runs a gamut of different terrain; Packed swooping single track, square-edged rock strewn smash and bang type stuff, and loose square-edged DO OR DO NOT step down stwitchbacks, with some hike-a-bike scattered in. The riding however isn’t the biggest challenge for the uninitiated. Its actually, just picking out a route and following it. The park is littered with trails the loop and split and connect. The possible variations seem endless. If your in the mood to just go out and ride a loop and not think about where your going these trails may not be the best option.
I started my ride on the South side from the Sarasota Blvd parking area. Its kind of sad to see the development going on out there they did include a nice trail-head parking lot.
Heading south toward Cat Mtn the trail is a packed single track with great rock formations to the left.
Turning left in to the park up Starr pass Trail, its time to put the city behind you.
Shortly after climbing into the pass the terrain changes, with a mix of rough “slick rock” and square edged stuff.
Head north out of the pass and you find instant seclusion. This shot looks back to the pass.
Now you start to really get into it. The trail tilts up gets rocky and the ride becomes a scramble to find traction and maintian forward momentum.
Of course now you’ve earned the drop back down. Descending in the rough stuff is all about keeping the front tire moving. Better to get a little loose than go over the bars.
These boulders are way more impressive in person, couldn’t quite throw my bike up there to give you a sense of scale.
The trail then dumps you back out on the south border of the park. The flowing singletrack gave me a chance to practice snapping pics while riding. Not a bad shot considering I’m holding the camera with one hand and just pointing it in the general direction I want. For reference the ridge to the right is the where the John Krein Trail climbs up along.
Again more impressive in person, but the saddle up a head is where the Yetman Trail goes up and over. The shot does not illustrate the climbing involved.
But first some some more on the bike shots. This self portrait wasn’t too bad either once photoshop rotated it about ten degrees.
This is my tire in motion… ummm?
And a little bit more traversing on the mellow stuff untill we get to…
The base of the saddle, shortly after this spot the trail heads uppward and the surface decomposes into loose gravel mixed with sharp stairsteps that are not always ridable.
Over the top pick up the Golden Gate trail and you come down this sweetness.
In addtion to the views, Gates Pass Trail has a suprising flow to it considering how technical it actually is.
The trail hugs the mountian mixing traverses with fast step downs and switch backs.
I’m discovering that my habit of being chroinically late does have the benefit of the dramatic lighting as the sun starts to dip.
After that last shot I was having too much fun to stop untill I was all the way out to Kinney road, looking back up the trail. Across the road Golden Gate turns into Prospector’s Trail. The name comes from, no suprise, the prospector’s that dug the mines in this area.
I got adventurous and hung a left off Prospector’s trail on to a barely marked path that faded into this. There is a trail in here somewhere…
Ah here it is.
Mashing through overgrown trail lets you savor the unlikelyness of where a bicycle can take you…
…and rewards you with treats like this.
Of course the price of these images was riding back to the car in the dark on the side of a sketchy road.
This whole is one of the mines in the area. It goes straight down and goes far deeper than my flash reaches.
In the mine area the trail opens up into double track that can be fun to just bomb down in a mindless youthfull way.
And another mine. Visible courtesy of photoshop digital brightening. Of course I’ll have to head back out here to cover the other 101 variations out here. Consider this a bit of a post in progress.
sorttheride
Bug Spring Trail
The Bug Spring Trail is a relatively short out and back, or actually up and down, totalling a little over 12 ish miles. Its rated as a black on the trail map. That rating, though accurate, is probably a little bit misleading. As opposed to the typical Mnt Lemmon ’rocks and drops’ trails, Bug Spring is more of a finnesse trail. The pitch isn’t overly steep. But the somewhat loose surface and occasional off – camber require a delicate touch to stay on the good line. You can also use Catalina Hwy to make a downhill only type ride but the climb is really half the fun.
The trail starts at a trailhead parking just past prison camp road.
After the a few tight switch backs the trails pops up onto the ridge and the scenery opens up on either side.
The grade occasionally steepens requiring you to keep some weight over the rear wheel to maintain traction.
After a few miles the trail start reaching some sweet rock formations.
Eventually the trail reaches this lookout which would make a nice day hike turnaround point.
But keep going and descend from the lookout this nice little section of slick rock.
It gets steeper in the second half.
The shrubbery then gives way to pine and the trail gets looser and steeper.
After climbing over a saddle, the trail clings to the mountain along this long off camber section.
Finally, your presented with the option turning around or dropping straight down the fall line to the end of the trail. Its a fun slalom that dumps you out just below General Hitchcock campground. Just remember that what you go down…
… you have to climb back up.
Then back along the off-camber and over the saddle.
And then its all down-hill.
Except for the short occassional up.
Past the E.T. family.
OK, now its all down..
down…
…
…down. A couple of tight switchbacks and then your back at the trailhead.
sorttheride
