Green Bug Molino Loop Santa Catalina Mountains Tucson, Arizona Distance: 23 miles Type: asphalt & singletrack loop Time: 5 hours Season: all* Elevation Range: 4300-7280 ft Permit Required: Catalina Mountains, Madera Canyon, or federal lands pass Quick Rating: Body-numbing good time Green Mountain map (1.6 MB PDF) Bug Spring map (1.5 MB PDF) Molino Basin map (211 KB JPG) Updated 6/2010

Description

Was Green Mountain too tame? Did you barely break a sweat climbing the Bug Spring Trail out of Bear Canyon? Are your best rides the ones where you've had to drag your half-dead body back to the trailhead? If this sounds like your idea of fun, you're one sick puppy and will love this loop. If not, stay away.

The ride strings together the Green Mountain, Bug Spring, and Molino Basin trails for more than 12 miles of singletrack. Such a good stretch of trail comes at a cost: a 90-minute climb up 11 miles of two-lane highway. The good news is that you get this out of the way early. It also means that you have an easy out if Green Mountain proves too much for you.

Rating

These trails include some of the most challenging singletrack in the Catalinas and you'll hit it fresh off a long mountain climb. It demands a great deal of stamina and conditioning. Take plenty of water and snacks and get an early start. Knee, shin, and elbow padding is highly recommended.

How to get there

If you don't have a Forest Service pass, pick one up at the Mount Lemmon Highway fee station above the Molino Canyon overlook or the self-service station at Molino Basin. Some federal lands passes are also valid, including the America the Beautiful pass. Check a fee station for the current pass requirements.

Take the Mount Lemmon Highway to Molino Basin (mile 5.6) and park.

Trail Log

Mileages listed are approximate. This usually isn't a problem as most trail junctions are marked.

0.0	Start up the highway from Molino Basin.
8.4	Pass Windy Point Vista mile marker 14.
11.5	Upper Green Mountain Trailhead on right. The trail is near the information sign at the south end of the parking lot.
11.6	Saddle. Faint unmarked trail goes right to Green Mountain. Don't take it.
11.7	The trail drops steeply and Ts into an unmarked trail. Turn right.
11.8	Steep descent where a marked trail splits left to Brush Corral Trail #19. Stay right.
12.5	Marked trail left to Brush Corral Shortcut. Stay right.
12.7	Marked trail left to Maverick Spring. Continue on the trail to Hitchcock Campground.
12.8	Marked trail left to Guthrie Mountain. Stay right.
14.4	Marked trail left to Green Mountain/Bug Spring Trailhead. Take it.
15.1	Bug Spring/Green Mountain Trailhead in Bear Canyon. If you've had enough, return by way of the highway. If not, continue left on Bug Spring Trail. The next half-mile or so is very steep and loose.
19.7	An unmarked trail Ts in from the left as you approach the Bug Spring Trailhead and highway. Turn left and follow the trail across the road.
20.0	The trail joins a paved path at a trail information sign. Turn left and cross the bridge. Turn right on the road into the Gordon Hirabayashi Campground.
20.1	Watch for the first campsites on the left. Follow the trail heading up the hill behind them.
20.2	Turn left when you T into the Arizona Trail.
21.4	A marked trail from the Molino Basin campground Ts in from the left. Keep right.
22.4	Trail crosses a dead-end road being returned to nature.
22.6	Trail meets the campground road west of a gate. Turn right toward the trailhead parking area.
22.7	Collapse in parking lot.

Notes

* Start early to avoid traffic on the Catalina Highway and heat on the trail. In summer, plan to start your ride from Molino Basin by 6 am.

Drop your seat post half and inch to an inch for the Green Mountain trail downhill. It'll help you sit back further on the bike through the steep sections.

Watch out for hikers and yield the trail, smile, and wave. In most cases they will encourage you to pass, possibly thinking that anyone crazy enough to try and ride this trail needs all the help they can get. A popular hiking section is the trail between the Guthrie Mountain fork and Bear Canyon.