If you were looking for a very strenuous hike to do in the Tucson area, Rincon Peak has to be in the discussion. It’s a pretty long and grueling hike but it offers amazing views atop one of the most distinguishable mountain peaks in the Tucson area. Here’s a look at what to expect on the hike!
Rincon Peak Overview
- Distance: 16.5 miles
- Elevation Gain: 4,590 feet
- Route Type: Out and back
- Pets: No
- Difficulty: Very strenuous
- Time needed: 9 to 11 hours
My GPS stats below are not accurate.
Getting to the trailhead
The trailhead is a bit remote. Take exit 297 for J-Six Ranch Rd toward Mescal Rd through Mescal, Arizona, located off Interstate 10. Then head down about 15 miles on N Mescal Rd. You’ll see a few different areas to park.
Note: When there is a lot of snowmelt there will be some pretty deep creek crossings so I’m not sure it is always doable in a vehicle with little clearance.
Related: 25 Things to do at Saguaro National Park
Trail conditions
There is a decent amount of overgrowth along the trail which means that if you have shorts your legs may get scraped up — I had a nasty “stab” from an agave plant.
The trail is relatively easy to follow. On the rocky sections it can get a little bit confusing as to where to go, but there were a number of helpful cairns.
I also want to point out that we did the lower portion of this hike in January a few days after snowfall began to really melt. The creek crossings were a little tricky because of all the snow melt and it was difficult to not get our feet wet.
Also, climbing up the rocky sections with snow and ice was a bit treacherous. With the right shoes and trekking poles it would be much more doable but I personally would not want to do this hike as a day trip when there is a lot of snow on the mountain.
Route description
The route begins by starting the Miller Creek trail as it makes it way through pastor lands. You need to make sure that you close and lock the gate when you pass and be prepared to be greeted by some cattle.
For about 1.5 miles you will be hiking along relatively flat terrain.
When there is a lot of snowmelt you will have a lot of creek crossings to deal with. They are pretty manageable but the first time we did them our feet got pretty wet.
But when the creeks are dry you can basically fly through this section.
At the end of the 1.5 miles you will arrive at the entrance to Saguaro National Park. I really love that this hike is located in Saguaro because it is just such a different experience from the standard Saguaro National Park visit.
As soon as you enter the park you will notice the elevation gain is much steeper.
It’s going to be a pretty steady incline for the next 2.5 miles so just be prepared.
During this section of the hike it’s very rocky and there are a lot of big steps/awkward footing involved. I don’t usually use my trekking pole on the way up but I found it helpful to use here.
As you climb the views get better and better.
Some parts during this section are a little bit difficult to follow but we did most of this portion during the dark so it was a little bit different experience since the cairns were sometimes harder to find (but the scorpions weren’t).
Luckily, when you get about 4.2 miles in, the terrain is going to flatten out and you’ll be passing right by the Happy Valley Campground. This section of the trail offers some nice shade and has some beautiful tall pine trees.
It would’ve been really nice to have the creek flowing while we were there but it was bone dry.
At a little under 5 miles into the hike you should encounter the trail Junction for the Rincon Peak Trail.
It will be pretty hard to miss just make sure you go the right way because the other direction will take you downhill.
After you join this trail you will still have some relatively flat terrain to work with so you can enjoy your stroll through the forest at this point.
Then right about the 6 mile marker it’s time for the climb to begin once again. There are some pretty great views along the stretch of the hike an lots of forest.
You’ll also notice Rincon Peak getting closer in the distance.
Until you get to about 7 miles in, this part is a pretty steady incline. It’s not that bad at about 600 feet in elevation gain but fatigue may start becoming an issue for your legs around this time.
The next half mile levels off a little bit so things don’t feel quite as steep. At this point you are completely surrounded by pine trees and it’s really nice.
And then you’ll arrive at the final push. The final push is around half a mile and it does get very steep at times. (It’s easier going up than going down.) I think there’s about 800 feet in elevation gain during the steep section.
Right at around 8,000 feet you’ll pass a small aspen grove which I thought was just really cool. They are definitely smaller than the ones I’ve seen in other nearby areas but they were doing a little bit of quaking as we passed.
Now you will continue to make your way through some pretty steep terrain and you’ll eventually end up near the summit. The amazing views will already be emerging.
My AllTrails map showed the route stopping slightly short of the summit so if you were following that you will still have a little bit of climbing to do to get to the top (8,482 feet). There are some large rocks to navigate so be prepared for that last bit of effort needed.
The summit of Rincon is really cool. There’s a lot of space up there and a lot of different ledges to take in the views.
You’ll have a full panoramic views of all of the nearby mountains.
Also a lot of the pine forest below looked really healthy with limited burn scars. It just felt really nice looking down into such a healthy forest.
As you head back down the first half a mile be really careful because once again some parts are super steep. You might even want to get on your butt and slide down a couple of spots where there’s a lot of loose dirt.
I would highly recommend using at least one trekking poll for the descent.
Other than the initial steep terrain, the hike back down was not bad at all. We made some pretty good time and were doing very well. But then the heat started to become a bit of a factor.
Once we started to get near 6,000 feet in elevation I could feel that there was a noticeable increase in temperature. It went from feeling perfect near the summit to pretty warm very quickly.
By the time that we got to the drop off for the last 4.2 miles the heat was really doing a number on us.
We had plenty of water and had actually hid a bag of water bottles along the trail at the 4 mile marker so that we did not have to load up our packs with everything the entire time. That actually was a fantastic idea — I would highly recommend it.
But despite being prepared with water, heat was still a major problem.
The last 4 miles are pretty exposed to the sun in the early afternoon and while there are some spots to grab some shade it’s really difficult to get a complete relief from the heat.
As we were coming down temperatures were in the 90s and despite all the water we had it was becoming a major problem.
Our bodies were rejecting the water, we had incessant cramping all over (never had anything like that before), we were both throwing up, and I was really struggling to make progress on the trail. It was a little scary and quite the struggle and I think my first real battle with heat exhaustion.
For that reason, I don’t think we will be doing this hike again on such a hot day. With that said, I think this would have been the perfect hike if we had more reasonable temperatures to deal with on the way down. I think fall, winter, and spring are the times to do this trail as a long day hike.
Final word
This really is a great challenging and rewarding hike. It can be very strenuous so you definitely need to make sure you can handle it but if you are confident in your long distance hiking abilities it’s a great choice — just be mindful of the heat/water situation!