This hike was a rare solo hike.
I’d just sprained an ankle a week or two prior and needed an easy trail to test out my ankle strength.
The Molino Basin via Arizona Trail looked like a perfect option to do just that so I went over to Mount Lemmon to give it a shot.
Molino Basin via Arizona Trail Overview
The Molino Basin via Arizona Trail is a great trail for beginners or people looking for some beautiful high desert terrain with little effort. With just a little bit of a work out you’ll enjoy sweeping views and have the option to make the trail as long as you like as you hike along the famed Arizona Trail.
- Distance: 2.1 miles
- Elevation Gain: 554 feet
- Route Type: Out and back
- Pets: Yes
- Difficulty: Easy
- Time needed: 1 to 1.5 hours
Getting to the trailhead
To get to the trailhead, follow the Mount Lemmon Highway passing Soldier Trail and Babat Duag Trail, until you reach the Molino Basin Campground.
You can turn into the campground area and park in that space or if it is filled up you can park on the gravel area adjacent to the shoulder of Mount Lemmon Highway.
The parking spaces can fill up pretty quickly on the weekends so you might need to get an early start.
Trail conditions
The trail is in good condition and easy to follow. Some portions are a bit rocky but overall you should have no issues.
Route description
You’ll see the entrance to the trailhead once you cross the street or leave your car from the shoulder area of the road.
You’ll know you’re in the right spot if you see the Arizona Trail sign.
The first few hundred feet are very flat but it will start to pick up soon. You are going to gain a little under 500 feet in about .7 miles so it’s a decent little incline but still very manageable.
The trailhead elevation is around 4,300 feet so you are a little bit above the range where you’ll find saguaro cactuses so this is not a great trail if that is one of your main goals.
But the trail will take you through some beautiful high desert terrain and you’ll encounter other forms of vegetation like prickly pear, agave, sotol, oak, and juniper.
As you make your way up the trail, there are a couple of stretches with some big steps that get a bit rocky. Nothing too crazy.
Before you know it, you’ll have some amazing views looking out over the Molino Basin’s surrounding terrain.
Other portions of the trail are clearly defined and easy to navigate. By the way, you can expect to have no shade on this trail so be sure to bring plenty of water on a hot day.
You’ll also come across a couple of great viewpoints that are nice places to relax and chill.
Eventually, you come across a raised cattle guard that you will need to cross to proceed. As my sprained ankle was still recovering, this felt a little bit like a death trap to me but it wasn’t bad.
At just under 1 mile into the hike you’ll come to a saddle and the views looking east toward some beautiful foothills open up.
This is a really cool transition because the trail suddenly feels extremely isolated and remote as you can no longer see or hear the highway nearby.
It’s just you and endless foothills extending on the horizon with Bassett Peak in the background.
Everything is downhill after crossing the saddle but the scenery continues to impress.
You could follow this trail all the way down and make this a much longer hike if you wanted.
It connects with the Agua Caliente area on the southside but also forks to the east into a pretty complex network of trails so you probably want to have a map or a good sense of where you are going if you continue to head down that way.
Final word
I finished up this short hike with no ankle issues so it was a good hiking day. I’d recommend this hike to people visiting Mount Lemmon who want to check out some interesting scenery without putting too much time or effort into a hike.