Isis Castillo, who is just 15 months old, probably hasn't heard the expression "stop and smell the roses." ...
PATAGONIA — About 60 seconds into a hike on the Creek Trail, bird-watcher John Swartz bags a sighting. ...
Laze in the shade of a cool fir forest. Spread a trailside picnic in a wild garden of ferns. ...
This summer, we are taking a look at some of the people in Tucson who help make the arts a reality in the Old Pueblo. This week: Stephen and Elaine Paul and their sculpted furniture. ...
Pedal a bike into the heart of the Rincon Valley southeast of Tucson and you'll get what many cyclists seek when they straddle the saddle: a good workout in a scenic setting. ...
The early birder gets the warm. ...
If gorgeous gardens of granite were precious treasure, the Catalina Mountains would be a sort of Fort Knox of the natural world. ...
Someday you might wake up and wonder: How many Golden Gate Bridges would it take to reach across the average width of the Grand Canyon? ...
The dominant theme, the main motif, of this season high in the mountains of Southern Arizona can be expressed in a single word: ...
Here's one reason to thank your lucky stars if you live in the Tucson area: It's a stargazer's paradise. ...
You might find it absurd — in this region with hundreds of miles of wondrous hiking trails — to take a hike on a road. ...
It's a geologic wonderland where visitors just can't seem to find enough words to describe all the varied, wondrous heaps of stone....
Soldier Canyon is a place of steep, rugged terrain with no maintained trails...
MADERA CANYON — Hike, look and learn. That's the drill on the Nature Trail in Madera Canyon south of Tucson. ...
Madera Canyon — one of the top bird-watching areas in the Southwest — will be the site of an International Migratory Bird Day celebration Saturday. ...
It probably would be a stretch to call it "Secret Sabino." ...
The rolling hills around the historic Kannally Ranch House at Oracle State Park will be alive with music this spring. ...
Just imagine the fiery fury as you hike the first mile of the Red Ridge Trail. ...
It takes no more than two words to suggest a good plan of action regarding Tucson's river-park trails at this time of year. ...
The first two or three miles of the route, which begins in desert terrain and climbs to higher altitudes, is a place to savor the birds, blooms and big blue skies of spring....
Taking up bird-watching in southeastern Arizona is a little like deciding to be a surfer in Hawaii. You're in the right place. Our region is known for its exceptional variety of winged wildlife and bird habitat ranging from deserts and canyons to pine-topped mountains. ...
You are not a bird soaring over Sabino Canyon northeast of Tucson. But if you were, you'd get a view similar to what hikers see from the Phoneline Trail. ...
The Arizona Trail — spanning 817 miles of desert, canyon and mountain terrain from Mexico to Utah — has been designated as a National Scenic Trail. ...
Two mountain bike riders top a steep hill, crank across a flat stretch and then rock and rattle down the opposite side just a bit shy of out of control. ...
PINE — Warbling mountain birds waft sweet avian melodies into cool morning air along the Pine Canyon Trail. ...
Not too many places in our rugged desert area offer unpaved trails that are fit for everyday walkers and wheelchair users alike. ...
Here is this year's wildflower outlook in a nutshell: bloom or bust, depending on the location. ...
Never mind that it is called the Brown Mountain Trail. On a balmy March day, the trail takes hikers through a not-so-brown landscape of lovely desert greens accented here and there with winsome wildflowers. ...
Oscar Felix glances down at his motionless fishing line, then peers out across the still waters of Kennedy Lake. ...
Here are three trails that offer good views and fairly convenient access, depending on where you live or work: Starr Pass Trail, Ventana Canyon Trail and Linda Vista Trail...
Sometimes comes this urge to leave the beaten path. ...
FLORENCE — Countless thousands of people journey to Florence every year to see the birthplace of the grand revival of art and learning known as the Renaissance. ...
Let's ponder how the Pink Hill Trail got its name. ...
One thing to keep in mind when you pedal a bike up Gates Pass west of Tucson: What goes up must come down — in this case, pretty darned fast. The steep, narrow road to the pass will test your legs and lungs on the way up and your brakes and nerves on the way down. ...
Bridal Wreath Falls might seem more like Bridal Wreath Trickle at many times of the year — but the presence of even a small cascade in desert country inspires a kind of wonder. ...
A fellow hiker — whom I've always thought of as my "free-range friend" because of his love for wild, unbounded treks — signs his messages with the words "good sky to you." ...
You'll see plenty of splendid sights along paved roads in Saguaro National Park — but here's a way to reach some of the more remote jewels of the park's west district: ...
ORACLE — Golden winter grasses carpet gently rolling hills and hidden hollows along the Mariposa Trail at Oracle State Park. ...
Hike a stormy desert day just as the clouds begin to clear. ...
It can be just a little slice of heaven to have family members and friends gathered at your house in this week between Christmas and New Year's Day. ...
Here are three trails for winter snow hiking: Box Camp Trail, Butterfly Trail and Super Trail....
Lucio Castellini traveled up a long, steep stretch of the Bug Spring Trail one day recently without showing the slightest sign of hiking fatigue. ...
Just try to imagine the miles. Thousands of miles, tens of thousands of miles, hundreds of thousands, or more. Who knows the total hiking mileage racked up by members of the Southern Arizona Hiking Club over the past five decades? ...
It's half past twilight, going on dark, as I work my way down the final switchbacks of the Lower Javelina Trail. ...
Desert hiking — like many other things in life — is all about timing. ...
The biggest benefit of bird-watching is — no surprise — seeing lots of beautiful birds and learning all about them. • Ah, but the practice of spying on winged wildlife can also bring a secondary perk: a good physical workout. • One example: "The loop trail in Madera Canyon (south of Tucson) that goes to Bog and Kent springs is a great combination of a workout and birding," says Kendall Kroesen, an avid bird-watcher who serves as restoration program manager for the Tucson Audubon Society. "The birding is best by the springs — and the stretches between the springs really stretch the legs." ...
Mountaineers have a tried and true code: Go with a light load. ...
Desert trails often wander into wild terrain with no signs of human habitation. Here's a different kind of route — one that takes you to the remains of what must have been a pretty fancy foothills home seven decades ago. ...
It's a beautiful day and you want to take the family on a hike in a wondrous natural setting without driving far. ...
PHOENIX — Some places lure us with their very names. ...
Maybe you're a recovering couch potato in search of a little outdoor exercise. Perhaps you're a super-fit trekker with Olympian legs and lungs. Or something in between. ...
Pedaling a road bike around town is one thing. Tackling a trail on a mountain bike is another spin altogether. ...
MADERA CANYON — The days of autumn in this lushly wooded fold in the Earth south of Tucson are often mild, sunny and kissed at once with the last flowers of summer and golden leaves of fall. ...
Here's one of the rewards of autumn in Southern Arizona: maples in the mountains. ...
You might think of it as Zen hiking — or perhaps as a kind of transcendental trekking. • A practice known as walking meditation, which has long been a part of many Buddhist and other traditions, can add a meditative component to walks in mountains, deserts or parks. ...
A cool morning breeze wafts down from a rocky ridge and rustles through the autumn-gold leaves of a trailside bush. ...
Most of us think of the Grand Canyon as a great, gorgeous gash in the Earth — but it's also a powerful magnet. ...
Summertime is gone — but the livin' is still easy at serene Silverbell Lake. ...
The Arizona Trail — an 807-mile route spanning the state from Mexico to Utah — is within 46 miles of completion, and fundraising events next month could help finish the job. ...
CORONADO NATIONAL MEMORIAL — History mingles with natural beauty in this serene spot tucked between summits of the Huachuca Mountains and the Mexican border. ...
SAN PEDRO HOUSE — Janet Moore and Diana Davis set out from this bird-watchers' mecca on the San Pedro River with good binoculars and great expectations. ...
Beautiful Bear Canyon almost always gets second billing. ...
Perched near Windy Point in the Catalina Mountains, the site offers dramatic views of cliffs, canyons and distant summits....
Tracing trickling Madera Creek for much of its 1.5-mile length, the trail passes through the heart of some of the best bird-watching terrain in Southern Arizona. The area is known for its lush oak-and-pine forest and displays of summer wildflowers....
ASPEN DRAW — The forest high in the Catalina Mountains is a midsummer festival of ferns, wildflowers and fungi. ...
PATAGONIA — Miles spin out under fat, knobby tires as I pedal a mountain bike up the here pebbly, there bumpy, but mostly smooth-dirt surface of the Harshaw Creek Road. ...
STRAWBERRY — School has been out since 1916. ...
The sweet fragrance of rain-dampened pine needles scents the forest below a band of cliffs known to climbers as Ridgeline. ...
REDCLOUD PEAK, Colo. — The altitude: 14,034 feet — more than two vertical miles higher than Tucson. ...
The Grand Canyon Audio Ranger is a new portable audio guide to park highlights available from the nonprofit Grand Canyon Association. ...
EMPIRE RANCH — Most of us are not cowboys. Couldn't round up a herd if our lives depended on it. ...
Red-hued rays of sunset streak the sky and cast a fiery glow across an expanse of tranquil water. ...
ELGIN — Towering monsoon clouds bluster up over the green expanse of Sonoita Vineyards as vineyard manager Mike Dupont tenderly inspects a plump cluster of merlot grapes. ...
MARSHALL GULCH — You could ramble briskly through this shady, streamside haven on a vigorous seven-mile loop hike high in the Catalina Mountains. ...
Hikers and campers often pay top dollar for new, high-tech, fancy-dancy outdoor gear — but the current economic crunch might inspire some of us to try a thrifty alternative. ...
PEPPERSAUCE CAMPGROUND — Surprise. ...
Tucked into a shallow draw in the woodsy mountain heights north of Tucson, this is a place of towering fir trees, shapely maples, emerald-green ferns and lush mountain grasses....
A problem with being bipedal is that we're perched up here on two legs — many hikers have found a pretty good makeshift solution to this anatomical drawback: a pair of trekking poles....
MINT SPRING — Wild mint grows in fragrant green clumps around a tiny pool of water welling up from scorched earth. The lush new growth of the pungent wild herb is just one of many signs of rebirth along the fire- ravaged Mint Spring Trail high in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. ...
MADERA CANYON — One way to celebrate this dad's day is to do something outdoorsy with the favorite father in your life. ...
GRAND CANYON — Radiant rays of the setting sun paint sheer stone walls in hues of red as I start down the Bright Angel Trail. ...
Even if you didn't especially like an exhibition that's now showing at the Center for Creative Photography, you'd have to admit it's a monumental achievement. ...
Rock climbers — always in search of another good cliff — discover some splendid spots that are just far enough off the beaten path to be missed by trail hikers. ...
Well, the Blackett's Ridge Trail is steep — breathtakingly steep in places — but it's also blissfully beautiful and rousingly rewarding for those who trek to the top....
Gas prices are soaring into the stratosphere. Grocery bills are going ballistic. The economy seems all too iffy. And here you are with your heart set on some Memorial Day fun. ...
Here's to hoodoos. ...
A recent ramble to the Red Mountain cinder cone, about 30 miles northwest of Flagstaff, put me smack in the middle of a mesmerizing landscape of soaring stone. It's a magnificent place that kind of sneaks up on you....
Here — on a short, scenic stretch of the Proctor Road near Madera Canyon south of Tucson — you can get a taste of the back-road experience even if your ride is a low-slung compact car or a city sedan....
A long, chubby Gila monster lumbers in no particular hurry across the Tanque Verde Ridge Trail and vanishes in a jumble of rocks. ...
Author Neil Miller visited Kartchner Caverns State Park in 2003 and found the story of the caverns so fascinating that he wanted to read a book about it. ...
Author Neil Miller visited Kartchner Caverns State Park in 2003 and found the story of the caverns so fascinating that he wanted to read a book about it. ...
The Granite Overlook Trail — a 1.6-mile loop route that links with other trails in this park near Oracle — is a place of shapely boulders, melodious birds and big views.
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Common sense tells us that something known as "global warming" is bound to be bad news for a place that's already a desert. ...
Global warming threatens to alter our region's landscapes and lifestyles over the next 50 to 100 years — sometimes subtly and sometimes starkly, scientists warn. ...
Mountain summits, ridges, canyons, cliffs, forests and a vast expanse of the Tucson Valley are spread out below your aerie....
It's a brilliant spring morning at Catalina State Park when Rosemary Minter hops aboard Baylee and hits the trail. ...
People who like to pay their dues upfront have just the right mind-set for the Soldier Trail. The otherwise moderate 2.6-mile route in the Catalina Mountains begins with a half-mile or so of almost rudely steep hiking....
A trek up the 3.8-mile canyon road, which traces the creek for much of its length, is one way to savor the splendors of the season with flowing water as a backdrop....
My wife — even though she has trekked to the top of many high peaks — sometimes poses this question: "Why don't we ever take a hike on a flat trail — something scenic but not so darned steep?" ...
Not that there's anything wrong with colors such as dull-sage green and dusty-desert brown. But it's a wondrous change — even an outright relief — to see the desert floor come alive at this time of year with vibrant hues of spring-green grasses and yellow wildflowers. ...
It's a beauty of a bloom. ...
Cold mountain water slips over the lip of the Maiden Pools and gushes down a steep cut of rock into the depths of Ventana Canyon. ...
Most of the people reading these words weren't alive when Saguaro National Park was set aside as a federal preserve 75 years ago. ...
Most hikers on the Babad Do'ag Trail have at least one question: What's with that name? ...
GLEESON — The general store is shut. Not just for the day. Not just for a week. It's closed down, locked up and sealed tight. Possibly forever. ...
The fingers of my left hand inch up a smooth slab of rock — searching for a handhold, any handhold, to keep me from falling. ...
Long before text messaging, long before the Internet, long before newspapers — people pecked their musings into the rock walls of King Canyon. ...
This time of the year — with the heat of summer two seasons away — is opportune for taking our fitness routines out of the gym and onto the trail. ...
You pull into a small Arizona town, stop to grab a bite to eat — and realize you've stumbled onto an outstanding little restaurant. The same thing sometimes happens with lodging. You take a room at a quaint old hotel or rural bed-and-breakfast inn — soon to discover that it's one of the most pleasing places you've ever stayed. ...
The first trails — long before those made by wild animals or people — were the ones carved by water. ...
It must be one of the most bizarre "hiking trails" anywhere. ...
COCHISE — Come visit. That's the invitation from Helen Bruner, who was born in this high-desert hamlet 65 years ago and still finds it a "quiet, wonderful place to live."...
The Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site in the Catalina Mountains is known as a good place for hiking, camping and bird-watching. ...
Pima Canyon — a long, deep slash in the southwestern flank of the Catalina Mountains — is a classic slice of glacier-free Southern Arizona....
PATAGONIA — A late-1800s-era barn from an Amish region of Pennsylvania has been taken down and shipped to Southern Arizona — where it is to be raised anew next to a rural bed-and-breakfast inn. ...
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Up at 4:30 a.m. Coffee. Black. Big mug. Pull on ratty canvas shorts, polypropylene top, light boots. Stuff the right stuff into favorite old rucksack. ...
Our recent soaking rains have primed the desert for a good — and potentially dazzling — display of wildflowers come spring. ...
The last rays of the day cast a golden glow on saguaro-studded ridges. ...
High on the flanks of rugged Pinnacle Peak, hikers often pause to admire the surrounding scenery...
A long spine of stone arches up in easy angles from a rocky flat to a broad-topped boulder promising a faraway view. ...
Arivaca Cienega, a spring-fed marsh known for its natural beauty and abundant bird life, now features an improved trail and an educational pavilion. ...
The Pima Trails Association has worked for the past 20 years to assure access to trails and improve them. ...
KINISHBA RUINS — Seven centuries ago, this place might have seemed like a grand stone metropolis in a high lonesome landscape. ...
Liam Kennedy and Chase Shoults might not have lasting memories of their recent trip on the Sweetwater Trail. ...
Autumn color in most high-mountain areas around Tucson has passed its peak or petered out all together — but here's a last chance for a look at leaves of red and gold. ...
SALT RIVER CANYON — A canyon as wondrous as this one might be a national park if it were in a state less scenically endowed than ours. ...
PINETOP — Crisp mountain air lures us into the woods an hour before sunset on a golden autumn day. ...
Cholla cacti — let's face it — aren't the most beloved of the prickly plants in our neck of the desert. ...
Fall is where you find it. ...
FLAGSTAFF — The ZIP code was not 86004 when people known today as the Sinagua lived here. The telephone area code wasn't 928. ...
Many urban parks are mostly about barbecues and ball fields — but some also offer a small but splendid slice of the natural world. ...
If you've never heard of the Hidden Canyon Trail near Starr Pass, there's a good reason. ...
The name — 50-Year Trail — makes it sound as if you're in for a really, really long hike. ...
One day some years ago, with more boldness than brains, I climbed up the stone face of Barnum Rock — alone and without a rope. ...
Autumn is just a week away, and here is the question many Tucsonans will ask when the season officially arrives: Where in the heck is it?
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I once meditated on the color of gentian blue while perched on a massive rock overlooking a rugged canyon high in the Catalina Mountains. ...
The University of Arizona campus is known mainly as a place to exercise the mind — but now it's also a setting for a vigorous physical workout. ...
Saguaro National Park: the unpaved version. ...
They're fabulously fat and festooned with flowers during the weeks of late summer in the desert. ...
FAIRBANK — Fifty-six. ...
Summer is the season of a thousand little rivers. ...
Tucson often wins praise as a bike-friendly city, but riders have had to rely on word of mouth to learn about some of the best road-cycling routes. ...
Dead trees stand like towering tombstones along the Oracle Ridge Trail high in the Catalina Mountains. ...
Green-leafed tendrils of ocotillo, yellow wildflowers and rain-fattened cacti decorate the Cactus Forest Drive in these months of the monsoon. ...
Cyclists glide through a cool arcade of mesquite shade on the banks of the Rillito west of La Cañada Drive. ...
Winding through oak woodlands to a spring site among towering sycamores in Madera Canyon south of Tucson, the Dutch John Spring Trail is a short, moderately steep route....
A grand abundance of bird life and a visual feast of scenery lure visitors to the hamlet of Portal and nearby Cave Creek Canyon. ...
This spectacle of nature plays out dramatically at the remote Cobra Ranch, where water emerges from underground and forms a year-round stream in otherwise parched terrain. ...
Fetching yellow wildflowers called columbines brighten a shaded forest path near Mount Lemmon Ski Valley in the days of midsummer. ...
Rock climber Jim Puckett, like many climbers before him, seemed to linger on the airy summit of Hitchcock Pinnacle. ...
When we learned that a list of the new Seven Wonders of the World would be announced this weekend, we — ahem — got to wondering: ...
Sometimes — especially in the hot heart of summer — we Tucson hikers seek a higher calling. ...
You could take a hike in an average canyon — or trek across the incomparable Grand Canyon from rim to rim. ...
Miller Peak is as high as you can go in the Huachuca Mountains south of Sierra Vista. ...
Some of us can't see the forest for the ferns. ...
Two words will give you a pretty good idea of how tough it is to pedal a bicycle up the Catalina Highway near Tucson: Lance Armstrong. ...
Dad loves the new necktie. Really. Great Father's Day gift! Very thoughtful. But here's the thing: It's mid-June in the desert. It's the weekend. Maybe Dad would like to shed the wonderful new tie, pull on a T-shirt and shorts, and spend part of his day in the great outdoors. Where to go? We've got some father-friendly suggestions. Check them out below....
Here is a refreshing fact about a summer hike on the Weatherford Trail...
Imagine a crowded hotel smack in the heart of a big city — with traffic whizzing by on the streets and the whole area throbbing with restaurants, bars, music and nightlife. ...
Sometimes the end of the road is not the end of the road. Sometimes you can go farther. ...
Grand treasures of terrain make up the vast Tumacácori Highlands...
SEDONA — Rock paintings from centuries past decorate small alcoves deep in the red-rock country northwest of here. ...
Our name is Caliente. It means hot. Hot doesn't scare us. We embrace hot. That's why we went to Phoenix — the very heart of hot — in a week of record-breaking temperatures. ...
Roam the Southwest for long and you'll get a great view through a window — a rock window carved out of stone by the forces of erosion....
Gridlock will get you — sooner or later. With the Tucson area at a population of 1 million, with Interstate 10 set for a rash of construction closures, and with many surface streets choked with cars — well, it's only a matter of time until you'll find yourself in a traffic standstill. ...
ROSE CANYON LAKE — Ty Pennington thinks he might have a trout on the line — a big, wonderful, tasty trout. ...
MADERA CANYON — I come around a bend on an oak-shaded trail and nearly bump into a young doe crossing the path. ...
PHOENIX — A car can be a plain, functional metal box on wheels — or a sleek, shapely, even sensuous expression of the automobile as art form. ...
Tucson is home to a large, zealous contingent of upwardly mobile athletes: rock climbers. ...
We live in a region rife with wild critters — from little lizards and warbling songbirds to cunning coyotes, bounding deer and lumbering black bears. ...
OAK CREEK CANYON — Look up: soaring rock walls. Look down: a crystal-clear creek. Look around: fetching wildflowers, beautiful birds and a pristine pine forest. ...
I want to kick off my shoes and soak my hot feet in the cool water of the creek. ...
PHOENIX — So much of this city is new, big, fast and flashy. Here's a place to bail out of the bustle next time you visit: ...
Some of us kneel and pray. ...
Find the trailhead at the end of a short road into the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site....
Saguaro cactus just off your right handlebar. Big prickly cholla on your left. Steep stretch of single-track straight ahead. ...
Hike up Piestewa Peak in Phoenix and you're likely to give your social skills as much of a workout as your legs. ...
Here's one way to sense the power of floods that ripped through canyons near Tucson last summer: Trek a streambed that was scoured by the deluge. ...
Wondrous waterfalls plunge over sheer rock walls in the Grand Canyon homeland of the Havasupai Indians. ...
A new map of our region — produced in vivid color and rich detail by the prestigious National Geographic Society — will unfold in an official debut Saturday in Tubac. ...
ARIVACA LAKE — You might land a largemouth bass. You might spot a vermilion flycatcher. Or maybe you'll just catch a few hours of peace and quiet in a soothing setting. ...
GLOBE — Donna Bailie climbs a steep wooden ladder in the heart of an ancient pueblo and emerges into a rustic room where someone made a home 700 years ago....
Some names are misleading, but here's one you can believe: the Super Trail. ...
The Sweetwater Trail, in Saguaro National Park's western unit, begins at the western end of El Camino del Cerro and winds in sweeping switchbacks into the heart of the Tucson Mountains. ...
A short stretch of the scenic Bluff Trail in Sabino Canyon proved to be the perfect path one day recently....
Desert trails lead to "cactus forests" of grand saguaros. High mountain paths take us into evergreen forests of towering pines. Somewhere in between lie woodlands of another kind: pygmy forests. ...
MESCAL ROAD — No rush. ...
This blade of stone, stabbing at the sky along Interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix, all but cries out to passing motorists: ...
Hike to the crumbling ruins of a house built by rancher Francisco Romero in the mid-1800s and you might think: Now that's old! ...
A bird lands on a limb. You look at it. ...
Hike the mountains and canyons of Arizona for long and you'll come to an inescapable conclusion: The way is up. ...
We're always in such a hurry. Even on a "casual" hike in a magnificent expanse of desert, many of us make a beeline from Point A to Point B — barely noticing the wayside wonders. ...
Somewhere out on Prince William Sound, paddling a sea kayak in icy Alaskan waters, Stephanie Calderón found freedom from the chaos of her troubled life in Tucson. "I could finally just breathe!" she says. "All the distractions were gone." Calderón, 19, who was once homeless and reduced to sleeping in a car, says her very existence was transformed on a 23-day kayak and camping journey last summer. She joined 11 other low-income but highly motivated teens in a leadership-training adventure called the Student Expedition Program. ...
Checkmate. And toss another log on the fire. ...
Someday you might wake up and say to yourself: I feel like walking across the entire state of Arizona! ...
Sabino Canyon is often a busy, bustling place, but the canyon's Esperero Trail can set you free of the crowds. ...
Call it seasonal synchronicity. It's the pleasing practice of choosing outdoor destinations to fit particular seasons....
ORACLE — The pavement peters out after about three miles, and the road goes to dirt. ...
The good thing about the first half-mile of the Soldier Trail is that you don't have to negotiate a bunch of boring switchbacks....
We've got plenty of beaches, Tucsonans like to joke. It's just the ocean that's missing. ...
It's easier than ever to appreciate the natural splendor of Saguaro National Park East. ...
Craggy rock ridges tower over hillsides bristling with saguaros along the Ventana Canyon Trail. ...
Something about a cave must be conducive to meditation, contemplation and prayer. ...
One day — maybe 600 years ago, maybe 1,000 or more — someone carved a design on a rock atop a hill west of Tucson. ...
SONOITA CREEK STATE NATURAL AREA — Here, human beings come second. First consideration goes to zone-tailed hawks, vermilion flycatchers, Gila topminnows, mountain lions, ring-tailed cats, white-tailed deer, orange skipperling butterflies, sycamores, cottonwoods, willows, ocotillos, wild grasses and countless other plant and animal species....
Moniqua Lane and Lexis Mazerski ambled down the David Yetman Trail as the last rays of day bathed ridges of the Tucson Mountains in golden light. ...
Poet and author Jimmy Santiago Baca — who turned his troubled youth into fodder for gritty verse and insightful memoir — will present a free public talk Thursday. ...
When the urge to stride right up the spine of a mountain strikes, many Tucson hikers head for the Tanque Verde Ridge Trail....
The creek-side trail extends from North Sabino Canyon Road to East Tanque Verde Road. It's popular with walkers, runners and cyclists. Horseback riders often cross the route on their way to the broad, sandy creek bottom.
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The hike is only about 2.2 miles from trailhead to summit. But be aware that you'll be trekking in brushy, rocky terrain — following a faint, unmaintained route most of the way....
The world's top rock climbers move like lithe spiders up dead-vertical, almost glass-smooth cliffs — but most climbers are "weekend warriors" with more modest skills. ...
KITT PEAK — Below you: a vast expanse of magnificent mountains and distant deserts. Above you: Pretty much the rest of the universe. ...
Ron Kauk, 49, a renowned rock climber known for his far-out-on-the-cutting-edge ascents in Yosemite Valley and elsewhere, is in Tucson this week....
If you love to move like the wind through juniper woodlands and rolling rangeland, you might want to mountain bike the Bellota Trail. ...
RIO RICO — Carmen Friedman stepped two-and-a-half centuries into the past, peered at a crumbling adobe wall and found a faint sign of faith. ...
Birds, as far as we know, can't read. ...
For a fun hike in autumn, consider Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, near Superior, where the fall color is sublime this month and where there's a music festival Saturday. ...
Extending five miles from the northern end of Alvernon Way to the 7,255-foot summit of Mount Kimball, it winds through classic Sonoran Desert terrain, rocky canyon passages, oak and juniper woodlands and a zone with some ponderosa pines....
A new state natural area near Patagonia opens officially on Friday — and you're invited to join in dedication ceremonies, a bird-watching walk, a horseback ride and other activities. ...
Sometimes we're blasé about the beauty in our own backyard. Exhibit A: Pima Canyon. ...
Babad Do'ag is one of those trails that is a bit boring in the beginning and way better at the end. ...
The Atturbury Bird and Animal Sanctuary is a 55-acre preserve of native vegetation and animal habitat at Lincoln Regional Park. ...
It will take you to no cloud-shrouded summits or hidden desert canyons, but the Rillito River Park Trail offers one magnificent advantage: It's convenient. ...
Let it rain. And rain. And rain some more. ...
Sometimes a name paints a perfect picture of a place. ...
Crisp alpine air, golden leaves and strains of Oktoberfest music sing out the season on a trail high in the Catalina Mountains: ...
Picture a typical autumn day in Tucson: The temperature plummets into the 80s, a saguaro needle flutters to the ground, and the gravel of your "lawn" shows no sign of withering because, hey, it's gravel....
Windy Point Vista in the Catalina Mountains makes a fine stop if you just want a quick, glorious view — but the overlook is also a good starting point for a rocky ramble. ...
The McCain Loop Road is not a direct route to anywhere. ...
You might sense something in the air as you walk along the banks of Madera Creek, treading here and there on yellow-brown leaves shed by sycamore trees. ...
A hike up Blackett's Ridge covers 6.2 miles round-trip — including an approach walk from Sabino Canyon — and gains nearly 1,700 feet in elevation....
Some hiking routes reveal their good views only after you've plodded for miles to reach an airy overlook. ...
An enormous, flat-topped outcrop at an altitude of 7,900 feet, Inspiration Rock is a spirit-stirring aerie offering big vistas and crisp mountain air....
The classic desert terrain of the King Canyon Trail in Saguaro National Park West is perfect for a winter hike. ...
Sometimes we hurry right past the good stuff. If you can briefly postpone the pine-forest views, you might find Molino Canyon well worth a look. ...
You've heard that bit about "the journey is more important than the destination."
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Baseball diamonds, soccer fields and a three-quarter-mile exercise path create a green and inviting recreational haven at Silverlake Park. ...
ORACLE — You don't often come across an old Arizona ranch house in Mediterranean-revival style accented with Moorish influences. ...
It's still a deep-cut, saguaro-studded slice of paradise on the edge of our daily lives — but flood-struck Sabino Canyon will never be the same. ...
Trails around Tucson — scorched by fires and scoured by floods — can lead unwary hikers into real-life episodes of "Lost" or "Survivor." ...
You won't need Tour-de-France bicycling skills — or performance-boosting drugs, for that matter — to enjoy a ride in the Rincon Valley. ...
Sky-scraping sycamore trees and old gnarly oaks shade the forest floor around Bog Springs. ...
You're cruising up the Catalina Highway — salivating for a fat sandwich or a huge piece of pie in the mountain village of Summerhaven northeast of Tucson. ...
Some trails in Sabino Canyon seem fit mainly for mountain goats — but the very short, flat Bajada Loop Nature Trail is perfect for everyday folks in search of a scenic stroll. ...
Frank Fields casts his line into the tranquil waters of Kennedy Lake — inviting fish to sample baits of night crawlers, shrimp and hot dogs. ...
You might see butterflies along the Butterfly Trail — but a glimpse of fluttering beauty is just one of many pleasures for those who trek the route. ...
Centuries ago, Indians known today as the Hohokam pecked pictures of animals, human-like figures and spiral designs on rock faces northwest of Tucson. ...
They weigh about as much as a penny, hover like helicopters and then dart through the air like tiny jets on a mission. ...
