Tucson, AZ – Starting from the northeast corner of Tucson, the Sky Island Scenic Byway travels up into the Santa Catalina Mountains to Mount Lemmon to a high point of 7,850 feet. On the way, visitors pass through a wide range of habitats from desert to pine, spruce and fir at the highest elevations. It has been described as experiencing all of the habitats while driving from Mexico to Canada on one road.
Sky Island Byway
The 27.6 mile Sky Island Scenic Byway is located in the Coronado National Forest and is a day-use fee area. Federal Park Passes are accepted. Additionally, there are numerous campgrounds and some dispersed camping options. There are numerous campgrounds and vault toilets along the byway. The Palisade Visitor Center is located at mile 19.6. We were able to pick-up a map of the route and hiking trails from the forest service staff at the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area.
Our picnic site had an outstanding view of the San Pedro Valley
Along the byway
Visitors will have numerous pull-outs and vista points for photography and scenery viewing. From the higher elevations, Tucson and its’ surrounding mountains ranges are visible. You can take in the Dragoon, Chiricahua, Rincon, Huachuca, Santa Rita, Sierrita, Tucson, and Baboquivari Mountains; Saguaro National Park, and the San Pedro River Valley.
Tucson and the surrounding mountain ranges
We chose to visit the byway on a day when Tucson was experiencing 93 F. At the higher elevations, the Santa Catalina mountains temperatures were in the 60-70’s F. We stopped to take in the view at numerous vista points, with my favorite being Windy Point Vista at mile 14. We also hiked on the Incinerator Ridge and Butterfly Trails. The Arizona Trail passes through the Santa Catalina Mountains. There are numerous other hiking options.
View from the Incinerator Ridge Trail
The Incinerator trail had some steep rocky sections
Incinerator Ridge
Butterfly Trail, on the north slope, still had snow on the trail
This is a great area for hikers wishing to beat the heat of Tucson the way the locals do, as it is usually 10-15 degrees cooler in the mountains. This is another area we will return to on our next visit to Tucson. We visited the Sky Island Scenic Byway while staying in our RV at the Tucson KOA, approximately a 30 minute drive to the entrance of the byway.
View along the Sky Island Byway
