Hello hikers! We have a good one for you today; a largely unknown, little used and (as far as I know) unnamed trail right on the top of Gates Pass. Why this beautiful trail remains such a secret is one of the real mysteries of hiking in the Tucson Mountains, but here’s the scoop, for your hiking pleasure.
Featured Trail: unnamed trail on Gates Pass
Approximate drive from downtown to trailhead: 15 mins.
Approximate length of trail (roundtrip): 3, 4, 5 miles, depending on how far you go
Difficulty: moderate to medium, with a few steep spots, and a few places where you’ll need to scramble over some rocks
Highlights: largely unknown trail that feels isolated although it’s right on the top of Gates Pass; beautiful rock formations; spectacular views of Tucson Mountain Park
To get to the trail, travel west on Speedway until it turns onto Gates Pass Road, follow it over Gates Pass and down the other side to the Yetman Trailhead parking lot immediately on your left at the bottom of the hill.
From the parking lot start up the Yetman Trail, walking about 1/4 of a mile up to the top and a natural saddle; you can continue on over the other side onto the rest of the Yetman, but what we want is to follow the sign pointing off to the left (east and north) that says ‘Gates Pass.’ The trail skirts the hillside overlooking Gates Pass Road and the parking lot below before getting to a second saddle approximately 1/3 of a mile away. The trail here is narrow and rocky, goes up and down a few times and has a couple of feints off to the left or right, but is generally pretty easy to follow if you watch closely. If you get sidetracked it’s easy to find your way back and forward; the important thing is to get to the second saddle.
This part of the trail has great views of the entire westside of Gates Pass and the road winding down from the parking lot on top, Golden Gate Mountain looming on the left, terrific rock formations above, and Old Tucson Studios, Brown Mountain and Kitt Peak off in the (far) distance. It’s a picturesque piece of hillside trail walking, up close and personal with the desert, with lots of thick underbrush and tress growing right onto and almost over the trail as you are moving north and steadily up. Watch for snakes! They curl up under the underbrush, and can be very hard to see. Eventually you’ll wind your way to the top, to the second saddle, with the main Gates Pass parking lot hidden behind a big chuck of rock dead ahead. You can scramble 100 yards or so to the top for one of the most spectacular views in all of the Tucson Mountains, or just jump right on the trail that leads off to the right, going east. This, fellow hikers, in the Gates Pass mystery trail.
The first part of the trail – 1/3 of mile or so – parallels Gates Pass Road, although it’s unseen behind some hills on your left. It winds along the hillside, with some neat looking rock formations above, before eventually tacking to the right and taking you up and onto some rocks; you are now going south. The trail fades in and out a little bit once you get on the rocks, but is generally pretty easy to follow. After few dozen yards or so it leaves the rocks and becomes a regular trail again, with awesome views both up the mountain on your right and down into the interior, a largely trail-less series of hills and washes on your left. I saw a herd of deer here the first time I hiked this trail, presumably the same herd I’ve seen several times south of here, in the vicinity of where the Star Pass Trail meets the Yetman Trail.
Continuing up the trail, eventually you’ll get back on some rocks before the trail comes to a natural end on a promontory overlooking the foothills of the Tucson Mountains below, a sliver of the Star Pass Resort off to the south and east, and one of the bedroom communities on Kinney Road to the south and west. This is a great place to rest, stop for some food or just soak up all the incredible terrain both above and below you, not to mention the hundreds of saguaros spread all over the hillside.
At this point you can either reverse back down the trail back to the parking lot, or continue on for another mile + or so. Continuing on means finding the trail that drops off the hillside as your facing due west several yards back from the promontory – it would be on your left as you reverse back down the trail – which follows a very steep and rocky path/wash down the hillside. At the bottom you may or may not cross a very shallow creek (water depending) before starting back up the hillside, now heading south and east and eventually just east (towards downtown) to a point where you are level with the promontory you just left fifteen minutes earlier. The trail down is steep; it feels even steeper coming back up.
This part of the trail leads off across the ridge line for quite a ways; in fact, it’s the ridge line for a series of 3 or 4 hills that all run due east. You can see the valley part of the Yetman Trail below, a good piece of SW Tucson to your right and the rest of Tucson spreading away off into the distance, with the Catalinas and Santa Ritas in sharp relief. You are really deep in the southern heart of the Tucson Mountain Park at this point, with civilization in the distance, but still in relative isolation. I’ve literally never seen anyone up here; I’ve seen more circling hawks and other large birds patrolling the skies than any humans. I’ve never been all the way to the very end of this part of the trail, but believe that it dead ends above a steep crevice, with the Yetman, Star Pass and Rock Wren Trails on the other side.
As much as we like a good loop trail, reversing course is almost as good, with a whole different take on the terrain as you move back through it to the parking lot. It’s beautiful coming and beautiful going; you really can’t go wrong here.
Also: it’s possible to leave from the parking lot on top of Gates Pass and make your way straight to the second saddle trail head, but it’s steep and very rocky, winds around in oblique ways, and involves actually going way above the main part of the trail before slip sliding your way down a very steep and loose path to get to the trail itself. If you want to go that way, there’s a faint path directly across the road from the parking lot, just before the sharp drop off down the mountain; stay mainly to the left and keep going and eventually and with some luck you’ll get there, but I found the other route to be more appealing in most every way.
Remember: you’ll want good shoes for this one. A lot of the trail is very loose and rocky, and crap shoes will really slow you down.
Enjoy, and please always pack all your detritus out with you!
The Trail Hound
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2015.
Please don’t hike on un-labelled trails in the Tucson Mountains, unless you know specifically how to minimize your impact on the delicate ecosystem, and please don’t broadcast your discoveries in the public realm: the landscape cannot stand the increased pressure that publicity generates with inexperienced hikers. There are HUNDREDS of similar trails in the Tucson Mountains, creating a spiderweb of impact that is disruptive to the natural habitat. Evidence of damage by previous visitors in the Gates Pass area abounds, if you know how to look for it. The County and National Park, as well as groups of volunteers, work with limited resources to DISCOURAGE the visibility and use of the historic mining and horse trails, as they are not easily recovering from a century un-managed use. This particular trail is well-established for the first parts, but as soon as we find a trail that “fades in and out”, it is an indication that we need to protect the area by not encouraging its increased use. All us hikers would do well to spend some time talking with our land management agencies, experts, and care-takers, to learn more about the joys and perils of the Tucson Mountains – it is a tiny, threatened island of unique habitat, much abused historically. Enjoy your discoveries, and honor them by carefully choosing with whom you share its location. An article in a broadly read newspaper would not be a responsible choice, particularly when the needed accompanying ecological educational perspective is absent. Love the land in the big-picture, not as a tool to provide the momentary gratification to our egos by broadcasting our discoveries. It is a continual challenge for all of us who love to hike; it is our responsibility as those able to poke around in the land to be aware of the effect our feet and mouths have on it. We all were naive when we first started hiking in the Tucson Mountains – it is important to learn about the land, before we amplify our joy with others in a that naive vein. Happy Official Trails!
Re: Pablocolada. While as the author here i’m not so taken with the ‘momentary gratification of my ego’ part of yr otherwise well stated message – it’s a bit insulting to someone who spends an enormous amount of time hiking in these beautiful mountains – I’ll take it as part of the greater message. And most of your points are quite valid and legitimate; the Tucson Mountains are a delicate ecosystem that needs to be respected, revered and looked after. The more hikers internalize themselves in all aspects of eco-managment (most of which is simple common sense), the better we’re all off. The entire question of whether to direct attention to little known trails is definitely something I have struggled with and take very seriously.
As in regards to this particular trail (and some others, as well), my calculation is fairly simple: although it’s impossible to know for sure, my belief is that a blog article like this is not likely to send any significant numbers of people onto this trail; I’d be surprised if it was more than a handful. given the somewhat difficult trek just to get to the trailhead. If it thought it was going to flood the trail w/rookie hikers, I wouldn’t post it. I’m assuming (it is an assumption, granted) that most anyone that would make the effort to get up the mountain to the trail is already a hiker, and inclined to be respectful of the trail and and landscape.
And, despite the fact that it’s not an officially marked trail, it’s a real, legitimate trail, not just a faint path wandering off the hillside; the parts where it ‘fades in and out’ are when it’s crossing rock faces; otherwise, it’s quite easy to follow.
But, in the bigger picture, I’d urge anyone reading this to take what Pablo has to say with utmost seriousness; he does speak the truth, and I appreciate him underscoring it for all to consider.
Love and respect these beautiful Tucson Mountains, and they will return the gift many times over.
Carl H.
Re: Bruce. That’s really fascinating and kinda spooky, yes. I’d welcome some info about how to find the trail from the Gates Pass parking lot. In the spirit of not directing a whole lot of folks in that direction, feel free to email me at carlhanni@gmail.com.
I am also recovering from 20+ years under the grey skies of the PACNW.
C.
Well stated Carl; I only disagree with your estimation of your impact via your articles in the Range on the casual hiking community, and the degree of competency and sophistication of the majority of hikers from that specific trailhead, which I visit weekly. It appears to be the SECOND MOST VISITED trailhead in the park, after Gates Pass itself, and attracts all manner of buffoon: the vast majority are first time hikers, tourists on holiday, urban dwellers out on a rare adventure. It is an easy target: cars are left overnight, parked as to block several spaces the next morning. Refuse from evening non-hikers is common. Few have ever looked at a map (based on the frequent conversations I have with passersby), or have even a hint of a plan. I watch people follow the natural paths, without a clue as to which trail they intend, and maybe next time they venture a little further down the road, extending the impact onto more and more “unnamed” trails. The adjacent area behind Old Tucson is a mess, once you start poking around the side trails. Many damaged saguaros. Trails are, by and large, Unnamed for a reason, and many of your readers may not possess your personal knowledge, experience, keen eye, and concern for ethics: the trails are not constructed for a certain level of impact. They can be large and visible, but one has to look at water diversion bars and landscape choices (rock vs. wash vs. slope). And then there are the less apparent aspects of wildlife habitat management decisions (the new mtn. bike re-routes and attendant wash avoidance on trails adjacent to the Yetman are great examples of thoughtful trail construction.) The National Park employs different strategies in other locations in the park, based on different specific user impact. I don’t believe that any trails in the Tucson Mountains need any advertising, since they are SO VERY accessible and multiply cataloged on various on-line websites. It is virtually an Urban Park. Far too many destructive visitors frequent Gates Pass, and some of them probably talk to people who know people who read The Range. There are plenty of other “gems” in the area that actually require a little gumption to get to – everybody drives over Gates Pass: I am still scratching my head over your perception of who visits that trail-head: your “surprise” is definitely warranted.
My larger concern would be with other nearby trails, should you wind up being as enthusiastic in future instances, since I don’t know you well enough to guess your future intentions in the column! I only wish you had included some context in your article about the profusion of CLOSED historic trails in the Tucson Mountains, the marginally successful attempts to better-direct the old trails, and the reasons why – the situation is much more poignant there than any other area nearby. Maybe a future article will cleverly weave the topic in…
Our (since it is “our park”) head naturalist ranger at Saguaro West for many years is Richard Hill, and he’s great to talk to about all manner of topics – tell him I sent you! I can also indicate [in the off-line realm] a few great Crestates, visible from those very trails, if you know where to look.
There is a difference between patronizing and insulting text, but not worth either of our time bantering about here ;-] -PK
PK: like they say, my bad. I was regrettably unclear about what I meant by ‘trailhead’ in my response above. I wasn’t referring to the Yetman Trailhead/parking lot – definitely the 2nd most used in the Park, and busy year round, and yes the true trailhead here – but what I’ve referred to several times as the ‘second saddle,’ 2/3 of a mile or so up the mtn., where the trail heads east, into the hinterlands. Lazy writing on my part. Just so you know I’m not totally lacking in judgement or divorced from reality!
There’s lots of other good insight and food for thought here that I’ll absorb. At the very least it argues well for putting future writing into an eco-context, to some degree; it might also well give me reason to reconsider what might be included in future columns.
Thanks for your insights and detailed arguments of always considering the big picture.
CH
Cool, thanks Carl: history through the Tucson Mountains has led us to an interesting and fairly unique set of circumstances, one of the very cool parts of our lives in Tucson. I’m not sure our agencies and community are projecting out into the future aggressively enough: anyone who has visited Colorado Springs’ Garden of the Gods can shudder at what the future can look like, if we don’t actively cultivate and protect the remaining “wild” qualities of peri-urban parks. We’re countin’ on you and the Weekly!!