awesome. glad you hit the best part of mt. lemmon. big kudos! the remainder is def worth doing. you can resupply with food/drink in the little hamlet of summerhaven near the top
if necessary. the last stretch up to the observatory is the steepest stretch, so after a 20+ mile (mostly) climb, it properly hurts. reminds me of the final stretch on the
climb up to dante's view in death valley national park (+ more altitude). just before summerhaven, it's fairly flat and scenic altho a recent fire decimated an already fairly thinned pine forest.
still gorgeous and a must-do..

Nice work on Mt. Lemmon! Hope you enjoyed your rides overall and definitely try to hit Saguaro East on your next visit.

magic(k)al. hoping to hit it again on feb 1st (or the 2nd) while in town. kitt peak is the must-do this visit. obvs, everything is weather-dependent.

Bring extra water if you plan to go all the way to the top; the spew that comes out of the pump at mile post ~18 is undrinkably vile...and that's if anything comes out of it.

Good to know. Is there water at the top?

no. there are a few small stores in the hamlet of summerhaven about two miles before the summit.
it's a quick descent to summerhaven (left at the fork takes you to summerhaven, right continues the
climb to the summit) off the main road.

seem to remember there being the possibility of grub and grog at the mt. lemmon ski valley along the ascent
after the fork in the road (downhill to summerhaven) and approx a mile below the summit. was too destroyed
to remember or think clearly at that point. maybe someone else can confirm?

sabino canyon was short and sweet. def recommended and scenic. not open to bicycles on wed and sun. open to bikes all other days but not from 9am-5pm. they run a hiker/ped shuttle during that time period in the canyon so go before or after.
it’s about 3.75 one way. allow an hour to climb/descend the 7.5 miles, 1.25 hrs if you really want to take your time or still trying to get in semi-decent shape. rode it on '23's but you'll likely want at least '25's. road surface not great but better than expected-overall a 6.5.

it’s an $8 day use fee but if you have/show your current national pass, it covers entry. had originally planned to
start lower down and get a little more climbing/mileage in but a significant chunk of sabino canyon rd. below currently ripped up and not recommended to ride because sidewalk is gone, it’s decently uphill and there is decent traffic with zero wiggle room. probably a local workaround but the obvious way is a mess.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coro...75425&actid=26

https://www.strava.com/activities/6615264260

Went up to Summerhaven yesterday. Holy **** it got cold above 7000 ft. I was pretty much done in a couple miles past Windy Point. I stopped at the Ranger Station and had a protein bar and rested, then went into Summerhaven. Then I just basically coasted all the way down.

I bought a cheap scarf in the store to wrap over my face, helped with the cold until I got back down to 6k feet.

managed to hit saguaro np-east again and do two loops. wanted to do four loops but didn't have the time. pavement was an 8.5 throughout and
traffic was fairly thin before 11am on a tuesday. still a must-do on a visit to tucson.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6615885028

I've been coming to Tucson several times a year for cycling since 2005, and yet (inexplicably) last week was the first time I rode up to the top of the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. (I've gone into the park and ridden up the first mile or two several times, but always during the winter so I had to turn around before the top because of sunset.)

I will agree that it is definitely scenic, highly recommended. Also agree that the pavement sucks, especially for the first mile. I did it on 23s but there were a couple places where I wished I was on a full-squish mountain bike sporting 2.5" knobbies!

$8 day fee?!?! Any time I've gone in there on a bike -- which has been after 5:00PM, naturally -- there's been no one in the guard house, so I've never paid an entry fee or been asked to show a pass.

yeah, it was definitely worth the hassle driving crosstown from the sentinel peak/dtown area. my first time as well. so many (local) walkers up to the first bridge

(about 1.5 miles up)...very little road presence after the first bridge.


regarding the cost, i live fairly close to cabrillo national monument in san diego (which isn't huge but has a great coastal hill to do climbing repeats on) and try

to hit it every two months or so. $20 car/$10 bike entrance fee. mix in 2-4 national park visits a year and the $80 yearly national park pass pays for itself. but that's me.

nearby saguaro np-east ($25 car/$15 bike entrance fee) has that must-do loop. not sure if the $8 entrance fee for sabino canyon is good for a week like national park sites

(save that receipt!) or not. if it is and you're just visiting tucson for a few days. it's definitely worth it if you hit the canyon 2x or more.

Oh, wait, I get it: You're driving to Sabino and parking there, okay, now I understand the $8.

(Tip: Park in the Walgreen's lot at the corner of Sabino Canyon Road and East Snyder Road. It's free, and you'll only add 2 miles total to your round trip up to the top of the canyon and back.)

And yeah, I just renewed my $80 annual park pass for unlimited access to Saguaro East ...although tbh the last ~6 times I rode there the guardhouse was empty 4 or 5 of them

a previous post of mine re: sabino canyon, blabbed about a bleep ton of road construction in the area currently. east snyder is below all that construction and directly enroute to the start.
maybe there's a workaround to/on the upper west of the sabino canyon entrance.
only been fortunate enuff to ride snp-east twice...last week and on super bowl sunday in 2019 around 7:30am. no guard on that super bowl sunday but there was this time around 10:15am
on a tuesday.

i'm always there (once a year in winter/spring) with the lady for the big gem/mineral fair(e). i get the mornings to ride but gotta have my butt back and showered and ready to leave by 11:45am
to hit crystal city and go shopping. would like to do the entire "loop" or mt. lemmon (again) or mt. graham (bit of a drive) but my rides in tucson tend to be 35 miles or less.
if we hit it again next year (likely), focusing on hitting madera canyon and kitt peak. did come across an awesome cocktail bar this visit:

https://www.owlsclubwest.com

All the construction is north of where Sabino Canyon Road "becomes" Kolb Road...Sabino Canyon Road proper veers off to the east at the traffic lights right where the construction starts. ~2 miles later, at the next traffic light, is the Walgreens, at the intersection with Snyder. Coming from the south-west you'll avoid all the construction if you stay on Sabino Canyon Road and don't continue straight on Kolb.

But as a workaround, head up north to Sunrise Drive from ...well, anywhere west of Kolb, so Campbell, Swan, Craycroft, etc. ...and then take Sunrise Drive east all the way to the end, where it intersects with Sabino Canyon Road right at SC Rec Area entrance.

Good tip about Owls Club, that looks pretty sweet!

bumpin!


help!

so headed back out to tucson end of feb/beginning of march 2023 and looking to check off a few more rides in the area and
looking for suggestions from those in the know/locals. have done some stuff over the course of three previous visits and have
a few more earmarked but wondering if i'm missing some places/rides because there's only so much "research" you can do on
the interwebz vs local intel/ranging around on your own curiousity senses-or legs.

stuff that's been ridden:
-sabino canyon
-mt. lemmon (the whole enchilada)
-saguaro np-east unit loop (3x)
-gates pass (both sides and from both ankiel rd and speedway)
-sentinel peak
-approx 8 miles of the loop closest to dtown tucson (2x)
-dtown tucson to the u of a (2x)

stuff that's on the must-do docket:
-kitt peak climb
-mt. hopkins climb
-madera canyon

stuff that's on the edge of the radar:
-ride out to oracle and back

a couple of caveats...will be riding from sunrise to approx 10am or so. gotta be back to the hotel in the u of a or dtown area to be present and accounted by 11:15am. don't mind driving an hour (one-way) or less (so mt. graham is out). only riding solo. not worried about support so boonies rides are okay. scenery and challenge are equally okay and a must. prob a max of 40-45 mile rides. mt. hopkins or kitt peak would take up the entire morn for me but madera canyon could possibly be combined with another shortish ride on the way back to tucson/in the tucson area. light, firm dirt (riding a road bike on '23's) as a connector to paved roads w/o big up/downs okay for up to 5-6 miles. worst case scenario...could do any mix of previously mentioned "been ridden" rides/places and would be happy with that but suspect there's a bit more lurking out there.
thanks in advance for suggestions/assistance/specifics.

Looks like you haven't done much exploring of the north-west (Oro Valley) area, so here are a few routes that I really like in that region:

Dove Mountain https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31794344
Rancho Vistoso https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38584393
Saddlebrooke https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38824890

also, you might enjoy riding the Shoot Out route by yourself https://ridewithgps.com/routes/35107486
or, you may enjoy doing the Shoot Out route with all the other folks who do it on Saturday mornings...but it's A) really early, and B) really fast!

thank you!

looks like i'll be out there for riding tues 1-31, wed 2-1 and thurs 2-2 mornings from sunrise-10am. tuesday is currently schedded to have rain at some point. hoping it gets pushed back to midday or later so i can sneak in an extra 20-40 miler.

so kitt peak road is still closed as is the last segment up to mount hopkins. both are on the to-do list. not this visit.

staying fairly close to sabino canyon, start of mount lemmon and saguaro np-east (east speedway/north wilmot). thinking of doing part of the loop over to saguaro np-east and back on tues, amap of mount hopkins along with madera canyon on that wed
and a combo of sabino canyon and lower mount lemmon on thurs (since no cycling wed and sat in sabino canyon).

looks fairly chilly for this doughboy (mid-upper 30's at sunrise) at the start all three days. would like to carve out 60+ miles combined between all 3 days. we'll see. brrr.

Be sure to wear your booties: The creek is running over the road on all the bridges in Sabino Canyon.

what booties? double wool socks is about as advanced as i get. thankx for the heads up. will probably sub in one of the oracle area rides you posted previously instead.

The first of hopefully three rides here in tucson. just kinda connecting some loose strava heatmap routes together. did a little explore of redington rd up to the end of the pavé. nice little 2/5 mile climb but bleepy pavement to/from. nibbled at mt. lemmon but got to the first switchback and pulled the plug. lots of running water in the various washes/street crossings but nothing too deep. too cold for this reptile but still nice to be out.

https://www.strava.com/activities/8483383837


redington rd looking west

end of paved redington rd.

redington rd ascent eastbound

redington rd westbound

just before the first switchback bottom of mount lemmon

Yeah, thats why I am here. Wife is shopping, I am riding. I am lucky I guess, I drop her off at 9 or 10 where she wants to go, and pick her back up around 4 or 5. Gives me basically 2 full days to ride as much as I want.

Did a great ride at Saguaro west yesterday, sort of phoned it in today.

https://www.strava.com/activities/8500107906

https://www.strava.com/activities/8495237111

lucky ducky. i get from sunrise to 10:30am or so since i am the assistant/chauffeur. did mt. lemmon two years ago when the show was in late march/early april and temps were perfect
vs the late jan/early feb dates of the last two years. hoping that in 2024, it's at least in late feb/early march. them morns are bleeping cold for this cyclist...er...assistant/chauffeur.

planning out the 2025 yearly visit to tucson in late late january/early february. taking in an extra day just for cycling to finish the uncompleted (by me) kitt peak climb and add a supplemental ride

in somewhere such as the san xavier mission and area (haven't done anything south of west ajo/airport/afb). have two other mornings to ride so looking to do a bit of oro valley and do a colossal cave/saguaro np-east

ride. staying on the southern edge of oro valley. if the weather is warm enuff (doubtful), will prob switch out the oro valley ride for some mount lemmon up to windy point but that's likely in the 5-10% range of reality.


regarding the mount hopkins area...is there anywhere worthy for roadies or is it all gravel/mtb? will eventually do madera canyon on the north side but is there anything else?

We were there with our Tandem earlier this month and rode about 45miles on “The Loop”. It’s a great network of MUP.

I found several great routes (besides the Loop) by googling “bicycle rides Tucson ridewithgps”.

I’ve also looked at guided bicycle tours to see where they ride.