We had been planning to do our first strenuous hike in the Tucson area for a little while. Initially, we wanted to get a few more strenuous hikes under our belt before attempting Mount Wrightson but suddenly one day we felt the urge to go ahead and attempt Mount Wrightson via the Old Baldy Trail. In this article, I will tell you everything you need to know about the Mount Wrightson via Old Baldy Trail.
Mount Wrightson via Old Baldy Trail Overview
The Mount Wrightson via Old Baldy Trail is a hard out and back hike approximately 11.3 miles and with an elevation gain of 4,012 feet. It’s the tallest peak in the Tucson area and a very rewarding hike with an incline grade that I believe is very manageable.
- Distance: 11.3 miles
- Elevation Gain: 4,012 feet
- Route Type: Out and back
- Pets: Yes
- Difficulty: Hard
- Time needed: 5 to 7 hours
Getting to the trail head
The trail head is located in Madera Canyon at the very end of the South Madera Canyon Road. There’s a decent sized parking lot and you will see signs pointing you towards the trail in the parking lot.
Trail conditions
The trail is very easy to follow at pretty much every point in the route.
It is kept in good condition but at times it can be very rocky and Forcing you to step up and down large rocky steps or tree trunks.
There also are a couple of points when you get to the higher elevations were you feel a bit exposed dealing with loose rocks on relatively steep switchbacks.
But overall this did not feel like a very “dangerous” trail to me.
Route description
Follow the direction of the trail head sign and you will begin the ascent in the corner of the parking lot up a white sandy path.
The 1st .4 miles of the hike are through a wide rocky path that will take you to the Old Baldy Trail.
The incline is very mild here but you will start to notice a steeper incline once you hit the Old Baldy Trail.
You’ll then come to the Mount Wrightson Wilderness sign and at that point you are official!
As you make your way through this portion of the trail, some great views of Mount Wrightson will open up and you can admire the scenery of your destination.
This portion of the trail is still pretty mild. You will have to deal with some large steps at times but it did not prove to be too difficult for me and it’s great that so much of the path is shaded, especially earlier in the morning.
At 2.5 miles into the hike, you will arrive at the Josephine Saddle, a stopping point for many people choosing to do the shorter and much more moderate day hike.
This is the location where several Boy Scouts lost their lives in a winter storm a few decades ago and there is a sign there reminding visitors about the tragedy.
This is a nice little rest area and we stopped here for a few minutes to rest up and contemplate our next move. I had been dealing with rehabbing my neck and was having some issues with it locking up on me.
Initially, I did not think we would move past the saddle but we ended up deciding to try to push forward and I am extremely thankful that we did.
At this saddle, you can choose to jump on the Super Trail (which is just a little bit further along the trail) and use that to make your way up the mountain. That trail is not as steep but it is longer than the Old Baldy Trail.
Many people use the Super Trail as a way to come back down and appreciate the views a bit more but from what I have seen, it is less maintained and better to do with pants which we did not have. So we decided to continue along the Old Baldy Trail.
The mile following the Josephine Saddle is actually a pretty enjoyable segment of the hike and sort of the calm before the storm for some people.
Although it’s a little rocky at times, it’s very shaded and there are some nice views that start to emerge.
The views really start to get good about 3 miles into the hike when it opens up to some of the jagged mountain sides towering above you.
As you continue to ascend, the views just continue to open up more and more over the next half a mile.
Once you get acclimated to these amazing new views, you’ll have to deal with a few switchbacks which aren’t too bad.
This was where I truly fell in love with the views.
After dealing with a handful of switchbacks and right at four miles into the hike, you will encounter Bellows Spring.
I don’t know if this is a year-round spring that flows but it had a slight but steady flow in early May when we hiked. It is recommended to filter this water if you choose to drink it and honestly this was a perfect opportunity for me to use my Lifestraw for the first time.
I did this hike with two liters of water in my Camelback and a Gatorade but hitting up the spring on the way up and down allowed me to finish up the hike with just enough water. I would highly recommend utilizing the spring so that you don’t have to go overboard packing your water plus the spring water was so refreshing.
Shortly after you pass the spring, it’s time for switchback city and arguably the most challenging portion of hike. You’re basically going to be faced with three main sets of switchbacks, with the first set being the longest.
The first set of switchbacks is going to be have about 30 of varying lengths over the stretch of about half of a mile, gaining about 540 feet.
Personally, I never found the incline on the switchbacks to be that bad. With that said, depending on your fitness level this could be a pretty good challenge.
Some of the steps are pretty rocky so you need to be careful of where you place your feet — I found trekking poles to be very valuable on this portion of the hike and for the whole hike in general.
Once you finish that punishment, you’ll come to another trail junction that meets up with the Crest Trail — the Baldy Saddle. From here, you only have one mile to go until you reach the summit.
This is also where the views open up to the other side of the mountain, and there are a couple of spots with shade making this a perfect place to take another rest.
This is also the junction of the Super Trail meaning that even if you took the Super Trail on the way up, you will have to hike up to the summit the same way you would if you took the old Baldy Trail.
After this junction you have about a quarter mile of a pretty mild incline to deal with before you hike up two more sets of switchbacks.
These views along this portion of the trail are pretty cool and you look down upon a lot of trees that were destroyed in a fire.
After about half a mile from the saddle, you will reach the next set of switchbacks. You’ll only have to deal with about seven or so switchbacks this time but things do get much more rocky as you get higher and this is where the loose rocks can be a little tricky in a couple of spots.
Note: At the base of the switchbacks we hit 5.1 miles which I thought would be the length it would take us to hit the summit based on the AllTrails app. But we actually had another half a mile in front of us so if you are relying on those measurements, just prepare yourself for more work ahead.
Finish up those switch backs and then you are so close to the finish line, you just need to head up a handful of more switchbacks.
I thought the mix of vegetation during this portion of the trail was pretty interesting.
After you move around the last curve then it’s simply a little incline right to the summit!
On the summit, there are a few rocky places to sit down and relax.
Unfortunately, it was impossible for us to really relax on top because we were getting absolutely swarmed by bugs including a lot of ladybugs.
We tried to brush it off at first, but then they started to coat our clothes, faces, sunglasses, Gatorade bottles, etc. It was just crazy so after hanging around for only a couple of minutes, we were on our way back down.
Still, I was able to snap some photos from the top which offered some pretty amazing panoramic views.
Looking out over the F. L. Whipple Observatory and Tubac/I-19.
This view looks down into Madera Canyon with Kitt Peak in the background on the left.
This view looks directly out over the city of Tucson and Santa Catalina Mountains with Mount Lemmon the highest peak. On the right are the Rincon Mountains.
Looking east you can see the Santa Rita foothills.
And then finally looking south, you can look directly over Patagonia, Arizona and see directly into Mexico. (Notice all the crazy lady bugs in the photo!)
The way back down is obviously much easier but due to the loose rocks and large drop downs at times, it is a little bit more time-consuming than I initially thought it would be.
If I did not have my trekking polls I feel like I would have slipped a number of times so once again I’m a huge fan of trekking polls for the hike.
I will say that it was easier to appreciate the views on the way back down.
Keep your eyes out for birds as we encountered a lot of very pretty and interesting birds (Wrightson is known for its high concentration of birds).
Final word
Overall, this was a terrific hike. It is a nice challenge but it’s great to be able to hike up in the mountains with lots of shade throughout the journey. I also felt like while challenging, the incline you have to deal with is not terrible so this hike could have been much worse.