Blackett’s Ridge Trail is one of the most popular trails to do in Tucson, Arizona. Located in Sabino Canyon Recreation Area (and part of the Coronado National Forest), it’s a trail that will test your conditioning but offer highly rewarding views along the way. In this article, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about the Blackett’s Ridge Trail.
Coronado National Forest
The Coronado National Forest is made up of several districts but the district with Blackett’s Ridge Trail is the Santa Catalina Ranger District which comprises the Santa Catalina Mountains and the Rincon mountains which are also part of Saguaro National Park East.
Included in the Santa Catalina Ranger District is the highest peak of the Santa Catalinas, Mount Lemmon along with the rugged Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area, and Sabino Canyon.
Blackett’s Ridge Trail Overview
Blackett’s Ridge Trail is a six mile, moderate to difficult out and back trail with steep elevation gain. It requires a good effort to climb approximately 1,800 feet but offers very rewarding views of Sabino Canyon and the surrounding mountains. Because of its popularity and the potential heat, it’s best to get an early start with this hike.
- Distance: 6.1 miles
- Elevation Gain: 1,781 feet
- Route Type: Out and back
- Pets: No
- Difficulty: Moderate to Hard
- Time needed: 2 to 3.5 hours
Getting to the trailhead
Because we were visiting during the time of coronavirus, we were forced to park on the side of North Sabino Canyon Road but typically I don’t know if this type of parking is allowed as signs indicated you should park in the overflow lot.
The Blackett’s Ridge trailhead is actually located right off the Phoneline Trail which is accessed from the Bear Canyon Trailhead. As you approach the Bear Canyon trailhead, you won’t find many if any signs indicating that you are headed towards the Blackett’s Ridge Trail.
There are roads right at the Blackett’s Ridge trailhead and so it’s possible that when everything is up and running, a shuttle could drop you off close to the trailhead but I’m not sure.
Trail conditions
The trail is largely an uphill climb over large slabs of rock which are often at a slight angle. There are some points where you will have to step up some relatively steep steps and rocks but it is pretty manageable overall and never felt overly exposed to me.
The trail is also for the most part easy to follow. When you get into the very rocky areas, there may be a couple of times where the trail seems to split up but you will quickly re-join the main trail even if you temporarily venture off.
Route description
We began with a walk through the empty parking lot due to the ban on parking and soon made our way to the Bear Canyon trailhead. It’s at the end of the parking lot and pretty easy to spot.
For just under half a mile, you’ll walk through a wide and flat trail with some great views of the Santa Catalina Mountains in the background. We arrived right at sunrise so it was in the mid to lower 50s and very cool as we started this hike.
Enjoy the beautiful scenery as this is sort of the calm before the storm.
You will then meet up with one of the roads and simply head right and follow the road for a little while.
You’ll then need to turn right and cross Sabino Creek. Keep walking and you will see the trailhead sign for the Phoneline Trail. At this point you’ll be just under 1 mile into the hike and everything to that point will have been mostly flat.
As soon as you step on the Phoneline Trail, you will notice the incline. It’s not particularly steep but this is where the workout will begin.
For a large portion of this trail, you’ll be hiking over large, angled slabs. I find these to be pretty easy to hike on and prefer them over trails with large loose rocks.
The vegetation in this portion of the route is pretty thick with tons of prickly pear, palo verdes, and saguaros. It truly is a beautiful setting to hike in.
If you are starting the hike around sunrise like we did, the sun will be lighting up the mountains in a beautiful way. If you’re into photography, this whole portion of the trail could be an awesome place to play around with, especially during golden hour.
At about 1.5 miles in, you’ll finally encounter the Blackett’s Ridge trailhead.
This is where all the fun will begin.
The next .7 miles will be the most difficult portion of the trail as it is the steepest and will take you through a number of switchbacks.
You’ll quickly gain 700 feet in elevation and some great views will start to develop as well. Straight ahead you’ll be looking at the Santa Catalina Mountains but to the west you’ll have a great view of the Tucson Mountains including Wasson Peak
As you make your way up the switchbacks, there will be a few occasions where you’ll need to deal with some large steps. It’s really not that difficult but just prepare yourself for it.
One of the best things about getting started at sunrise is that you’ll have shade pretty much the entire time on your way up. Plus I just think the views look super cool at this time in the morning.
After about 2 miles into the hike, the trail will flatten out a little bit at a saddle and you can feel good that the hardest portion of the trail is done.
There are some fantastic views to enjoy at this point.
There’s a cool Mickey Mouse looking prickly pear on the saddle right along the trail.
There are at least a couple of small sections of the trail that are largely flat rock. If you were doing this trail during or shortly after rain, these sections might be tricky.
Continue to make your way up the trail and you will eventually see the ridge in front of you.
And before you know it, you’ll be at the summit!
Once you’re at the top, you have some really impressive views of Sabino Canyon below.
Straight ahead, you’ll have a great view of Thimble Peak which looks like a mini mitten to me.
The elevation at the summit is somewhere around 4,400 feet, which is that cool vegetation transition zone in the desert. We saw lots of agave? including one that was blooming and attracting lots of hummingbirds which was pretty cool.
There are a few different flat (and rocky) sections on top of the ridge that you can explore. When we arrived, there were already a handful of hikers on top but we were able to find a spot just to ourselves.
Just be aware that some of these sections have a straight drop off and it even looked like some of the rocks are overhanging the cliffs. So just be careful and use common sense around the drop offs.
There were a lot of bugs at the top but we had bug spray and did not have any issues after using it.
The way down will put a lot of stress on your knees and I found trekking poles useful. But aside from a few steep steps, it’s pretty easy to blaze down the trail and get back to the trailhead.
Final word
This was my first time in Sabino Canyon Recreation Area and I was highly impressed. The views up on this ridge are really great and the hike is challenging enough to feel pretty rewarding once you make your way to the top. I would not want to do this hike in the middle of the day during summer though so be sure to try to get an early start.