Fall Hiking in Tucson

Just because you live in the desert doesn't mean you have to fly east to enjoy some fall colors. We set out this past weekend to hike up in elevation to enjoy the fall show that the Tucson area has to offer.

Aspen Trail

There are a lot of areas you can check out and explore but we chose to drive up Mt. Lemmon to check things out. A couple days earlier someone had posted that there were some changes in color but it had not yet peaked. Since this is our first fall in the area I don't know if it had peaked or not but it was spectacular either way.

Wilderness of Rocks

We started on the Aspen Trail in the Marshall Gulch area. The weather was beautiful - 56 degrees, sunny and a nice breeze. The Aspen trails gains elevation pretty quickly but eventually levels out to a nice hike through the woods. The Aspen trees were all a nice shade of bright yellow! We were also fortunate to see a couple of white tailed deer on this part of the hike. Once we hit the intersection of the Mint Springs, Marshall Gulch and Aspen trail we decided to take the Wilderness of Rocks path. This trail descends a bit through some amazing rock formations. You eventually come to a creek that seems to flow year round. Keep your eyes peeled as you eventually get to the Lemmon Pools area which is a great stop for lunch. Our dog always enjoys cooling off in the pools even if it is only 58 degrees out!

We decided to head back from there. We were about 3.5 miles in and wanted to check out the Marshall Gulch trail on the way back. The colors on Marshall Gulch were amazing. The creek was flowing well and I couldn't imagine that the colors could have looked better. I am sure they will still be looking great this next weekend if you have a chance to make it up. Enjoy the pictures: