Sometimes you just want to go on an easy stroll through some beautiful desert terrain without pushing yourself to your upper-most limits. And if that’s what you’re currently looking for, you will find it with this trail.
One of the most popular “easy” hikes to do the Tucson, Arizona, area is the Catalina Canyon Loop Trail at Catalina State Park. In this article, I’ll break down the hike and tell you everything you need to know.
Catalina Canyon Loop Trail Overview
Catalina Canyon Loop Trail is a 2.2 mile, easy loop trail with little elevation gain. It offers fantastic views of the ridges and peaks of the Santa Catalina Mountains and is easy to navigate. It’s a perfect option for somebody looking to get a good dose of nature without venturing into a strenuous and time consuming hike.
- Distance: 2.2 miles
- Elevation Gain: 200 feet
- Route Type: Loop
- Pets: Yes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Time needed: 1 hour
Getting to the trailhead
Catalina State Park is located just north of Tucson in the beautiful Oro Valley area.
You’ll find the entrance to Catalina State Park park right off N Oracle Rd (highway 77). The state park is also part of Coronado National Forest.
As soon as you enter the park, you’ll notice just how scenic this little area north of Tucson is.
To get to the trailhead, simply follow the main park road all the way to the end. You’ll find a large parking lot and the entrance to the trail will be easy to spot.
The park entrance fee for Catalina State Park is $7 but we used our annual Arizona state park pass to get in. As for park hours, it’s open 5am to 10pm.
Trail conditions
Throughout the hike, the trail is wide and extremely easy to navigate. Trail markers clearly indicate where to go and not go.
Some portions of the trail do take you through a bit of loose sand so wearing hiking boots may be needed just to keep sand out of your shoes. But overall this is a very easy trail to hike and could be done in tennis shoes.
Route description
Once you begin the hike, you’ll see the trailhead sign for many of the different trails that start here. One of the other very popular trails here is the Romero Canyon Trail which departs half a mile after the beginning of this trail.
The route starts off with a crossing of the sandy Sutherland Wash where are you will have the first of many great views of the Santa Catalina Mountains above.
After that, there’s a quick and relatively steep incline but don’t worry the incline is only for a very short amount of time. This is actually the hardest portion of the hike.
Once you make it to the top, there’s a bench area where you can relax and enjoy the view and you are set to cruise through the rest of the hike.
After that, the trail will level off and this will be an easy stroll. (You’ll still be dealing with a slight incline but it is so mild that it is barely even noticeable.)
There is a lot of vegetation in this park and it is one of the greenest areas that I’ve hiked in the area. You’ll find some common desert vegetation like prickly pear cactus, ocotillo, and of course some saguaro cactuses.
At about half a mile into the trail you’ll come to the Romero Canyon Trailhead. There will also be a couple of other trails that spur off, but just stay going straight and the signs should help guide you along the way.
Eventually, you will make your way downhill via some large steps into a canyon. If you are horse riding, you will take a different path down that will be marked by a sign.
Right around this point we spotted two beautiful Gila woodpeckers!
There is a creek bed/wash but it was mostly dried up with some pools of stagnant water when we made the hike. It would be really cool to see water flowing through here on the right day but even with some stagnant pools it was still a picturesque sight.
While this is not an interpretive trail, there is one interpretive panel that gives some insight into the geology of the Catalina Mountains.
The rest of the hike is very easy. Simply coast along and enjoy the views, although you will have to cross the sandy wash a couple of times before you’re finished.
We did this hike around 6 PM at the end of May when the temperatures were in the mid 90s. But as you can tell by the photos above, there was considerable shade and a pretty decent breeze as well. So the heat and hydration were not an issue for us on the short hike. But in the heat of the day, there will be very little shade so you will want to bring plenty of water.
Final word
This is one of my favorite easy hikes to do in the Tucson area. If you ever have friends or family in town who are not super-avid hikers, this could be one of those great hikes to take them on.