Madera Canyon - Dog Friendly Hiking November 2012

The first cold front of the winter finally arrived today.  A bit of rain and cooler temps means we can finally take the dog out to a few trails that he doesn't prefer in the summer.  Madera Canyon, south of Tucson in the Santa Rita mountains, is one of the most scenic areas around town.  It's a great area but there isn't much

Max checking things out at Josephine Saddle

water as you climb the trails and the dry hike slowly irritates the dog's paws.  Temperatures around 40 with a little rain and snow made it perfect.

To get to Madera Canyon, drive south out of Tucson on I19.  Take the exit in Green Valley for Continental Road.  Make a left off the highway and follow the signs about 13 miles up to the canyon.  You'll pass a few trail options and a couple of B&Bs before the road dead ends at the Old Baldy and Super trail heads.

We opted to take the Super Trail from the trail head.  This is a great trail, winding about 3 miles up the mountain to Josephine Saddle.  Along the way there are great views of Mt. Wrightson, the tallest peak in the area.  There was a bit of water in the creek on the way up today.  Under dryer conditions the first water you'll get to is at Sprung Spring, almost all the way to Josephine Saddle.

Mt. Wrightson from the Old Baldy Trail

From Josephine Saddle there are a number of connecting trails.  You can opt to hike another 3 miles or so up to the summit of Mt. Wrightson.  A challenging hike with another 2500 ft of elevation gain, but amazing views of the surrounding area even down into Mexico from there.  We took the Old Baldy trail back down to the parking lot.  Tallying a total of 5 miles and close to 2000 ft of elevation...just about as much as Max could handle before his paws starting getting a bit sensitive.

Here are a few pictures from the hike:

Looking back towards Green Valley from the Super Trail

Max and Katie hiking up the ridge

Max and Katie getting some water at a creek in Madera Canyon