HIKE OF THE MONTH

hike of the month Starr Pass Trail in Tucson Mountain Park Gets You into Green Desert at an Easy Walk

Sunrise in the desert is a delicate experience during the summer months. It reminds me of a mourning dove sipping water, which is the same as saying it is a tentative movement. When I started my walk on the Starr Pass Trail in the Tucson Mountains, it was 4:30 in the morning. The relatively flat trail extends only 1.5 miles, and it doesn't take long to walk. Which was just as well because I didn't want to step on any rattlesnakes in the dark, and I wanted to be done with my hike before the sun rose too high and hot.

The trail begins on a little saddle above a hidden valley and descends gently into a spectacular landscape of giant saguaros, chollas, prickly pears, and barrel cactuses. A wash just before the trailhead holds something unusual in the desert: cattails mixed with mesquite trees, and, often, some standing water. The water is from a Central Arizona Project reservoir off to the left behind some hills. Anyone sitting quietly there in the early morning might see coyotes and deer sipping from the pools. The trail winds down a slight hill into an enormous bowl between several low peaks in the Tucson Mountains. Saguaros, jojoba, and creosote bushes fill the middle of the bowl. The steep incline of Gates Pass rises off to the right, and Cat Mountain, where a legendary figure called El Tejano supposedly hid a treasure years ago, sits off to the left.

At .6 of a mile from the trailhead, you'll come to a junction. Turn left. The junction sign says it's 1.1 miles to Starr Pass. A short distance away, the trail comes to a T; go right and in .6 of a mile you'll be in Starr Pass, looking west into the miles of green desert that cover Avra Valley.

Today the route through the pass remains a trail or dirt road, and there's no indication left that in the last century Starr Pass served as the main wagon route connecting the silver mines at Quijotoa, on the Papago Indian Reservation to the south and west, with the rail line at Tucson.

Starr Pass Trail offers a scenic and easy walk, much of it on a narrow dirt road, and it can be extended considerably where it connects to the David Yetman Trail. It is very popular with mountain bikers, but in most places the route is wide enough to accommodate both foot and bicycle traffic. A word of caution: There is at least one abandoned mine shaft just off the trail. The mine is unfenced and dangerous. Avoid it.

Both the Starr and Yetman Pass trails are within Pima County's Tucson Mountain Park, adjacent to Saguaro National Park's West Unit. I have walked these trails every season of the year, but they are never more fragrant than on a summer morning. Just plan your hike so that it ends by around 8 A.Μ.

WHEN YOU GO

To get to the Starr Pass trailhead in Tucson Mountain Park, drive west off Interstate 10 onto St. Mary's Road. The name changes to Anklam Road as you cross Silverbell Road. Continue west on Anklam to Players Club Drive, which will be on your left (south) side of the street. The street winds through the Starr Pass housing development 1.1 miles until it reaches Starr Pass Boulevard. Turn left onto Starr Pass and then turn right almost immediately onto an unnamed dirt road. Drive west the length of a city block and turn right onto another wide dirt road that veers into a large parking area. If you don't have a high-clearance vehicle, park there and walk the last half mile to the trailhead. You can drive to the trailhead, but the road gets rough for passenger vehicles. For more information on recreation in Tucson Mountain Park, contact Pima County's Parks and Recreation Department, (520) 740-2690.