We decided to venture out to the Tortolita Mountains which are located in the Northwest Tucson area near Oro Valley and Marana. The Tortolita Mountains are the shortest mountains surrounding Tucson with a peak elevation of only 4,696 ft (1,431 m), but they are home to some beautiful scenery (and a lot of development disputes). In this article, I’ll break down everything you need to know about the Upper Javelina Trail Loop.
Upper Javelina Trail Loop Overview
The Upper Javelina Trail Loop is a great hike for someone looking for some fantastic mountain views and a moderately challenging workout. In addition to beautiful views, you’ll encounter a thick forest of saguaros and some pretty cool petroglyphs. And if you’re lucky, you might even run into a javelina!
- Distance: 4.58 miles
- Elevation Gain: 856 feet
- Route Type: Loop
- Pets: ?
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Time needed: 2 to 2.5 hours
Getting to the trailhead(s)
From the looks of it, there are a few different trailheads you can start this hike from.
We decided to go with the recommended starting point on the AllTrails app.
This led us down W Boulder Bridge Pass, near the entrance of a parking lot for the golf course which is apparently where a lot of people park for this trail. We decided to go ahead and park there since it is such a large parking lot and there were plenty of spaces.
Trail conditions
The trail is in good condition and easy to follow throughout. There are several posts indicating which trail you are on and I never had an issue navigating. Some portions of the trail are very rocky and there are some large steps to contend with so be prepared for that.
I believe this trail is also used for mountain biking although we did not see any mountain bikers during our hike.
Route description
After we crossed the street from the parking lot, we found a trail post and followed that trail which ran along the road.
Eventually, we came to a gate and after heading through (and remembering to close the gate), we began the uphill portion which initially ran along a fence.
The initial climb will gain about 600 feet in 1 mile. That’s not the steepest terrain that we have hiked on but it still is a good little workout. Due to the quick elevation gain, views quickly emerge.
On many occasions you are eye level with the upper portions of saguaros so this would be a great hike during May and June when the saguaros are blooming in full force.
While you make your way up the mountain, there are a lot of compact switchbacks. Some get a little bit rocky but it’s nothing too challenging.
Once you get close to about 1.5 miles into the hike you will emerge on top of a ridge/saddle.
There are some really great views on either side of the mountain to enjoy and it was pretty perfect arriving up there just as the sun was rising over Wasson Peak.
You’ll soon start to head downhill and then at about 1.7 miles into the hike you will have to decide if you want to start heading down to finish off the loop or if you want to take the spur to near the Wild Mustang Trail.
We decided to take the spur and it was a good way to add a little bit more of a challenge to the hike considering that it will have you gaining a bit more elevation (200 feet). In total, the spur will add close to 1 mile to your total hike.
The views while climbing up this spur are great and I like that it is a little bit more tucked away into the mountains so the hiking experience is much more remote.
However, once we got to the top, I didn’t notice a true summit point with amazing views all around.
Once you return from the spur you will continue the downhill portion of the hike, which is still very scenic.
Initially the downhill trail will be pretty mild but then you’ll come to a portion of the hike that is pretty steep and very rocky. Look for the trail to the hotel spur if you are doing the loop as we did.
As you head down, you’ll have some great views including a birds-eye view of the Ritz-Carlton resort below.
The descent is about half a mile but you will drop about 330 feet in elevation.
At about 3 miles into the hike you will then have to decide if you want to take an additional side route to check out the petroglyphs.
It’s an awkward path to get there so just be prepared to feel like you are sneaking into a resort.
Basically, you will follow the trail as it hits toward the resort and then follow a path along a driveway towards the back of the resort. You’ll walk along the fence line until you see an area with a lot of little site posts where you can spot the petroglyphs.
The petroglyphs are a bit far away and rather small so this was not quite the close encounter I was hoping for. A much better petroglyph encounter can be had at Signal Hill.
Still, it was a cool little detour and we spotted a large javelina while we were checking out the petroglyphs so that was kind of cool.
From that point, you have just over 1 mile to get back to the starting trail head. You’ll simply follow along on the trail that runs parallel to the main roads. It’s very flat at that point so all of your hard work is finished but it is still a pretty scenic hike with a lot of saguaros and some million dollar homes to admire.
Final word
This is a very scenic hike that offers great views for only a moderate amount of effort. Even though it was already 80° at sunrise, I was happy that we started this hike early and this could be a pretty strenuous hike in the heat so try to avoid that if you can.