Mount Lemmon Trail #5

Expansive views, lots of connecting trails and access to the western portion of the Wilderness of Rock with its immense boulders and picturesque formations characterize this high country trail. The Mt. Lemmon Trail starts out near the summit of the 9,157 foot peak for which it is named, at a parking area about a mile past Mt. Lemmon Ski Valley near the end of Observatory Road. After following an access road along a buried powerline, it strikes off on a more backcountry course down one of the most prominent ridges that fan out from the mountaintop. Views are big here, encompassing the Wilderness of Rock to the southeast, Romero Canyon to the west and north, and most dramatic of all, Pusch Ridge to the west, stairstepping its sawtooth course toward Tucson.

The route the Mt. Lemmon Trail follows through this rugged, mountainous country, is steep and rocky in a number of places. Most notable of those difficult stretches are the series of switchbacks where the trail drops off the high ridge of the Catalinas toward the Wilderness of Rock, and the section between the Wilderness of Rock Trail #44 and West Fork Trail #24 junctions where trail gradients are as steep as they get in the Santa Catalinas.

The Mt. Lemmon Trail provides access to a number of other trails in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness, including Sutherland Trail #6, Lemmon Rock Trail #12, Wilderness of Rock Trail #44, Romero Trail #8 and West Fork Trail #24. Many who hike this trail leave a second vehicle at one of these other trailheads and use the Mt. Lemmon Trail as part of a long day trip or a segment of a multi-day backpack. Whatever option you choose, chances are good that you’ll be back to try one of the others.