Molino Trail The Arizona Trail Santa Catalina Mountains Tucson, Arizona Distance: 5-8 miles Type: singletrack, out & back Time: 3/4-2 hours Season: all Elevation Range: 4300-5000 ft Permit Required: Catalina Mountains or Madera Canyon pass Quick Rating: lung-busting uphill and fast-slippery downhill Trail Map (211 Kb JPG) About the map and trail profile Updated 3/13/05

Description

The Molino Trail offers a good warm-up or a quick ride when time is short. You can turn around at the saddle short of the old prison camp or continue up to the Pusch Wilderness Trailhead. As long as you pick your time of day right, the trail is ridable year round. Weather and time of year can change trail conditions unexpectedly. The trail may be moist with great traction or dry and loose. The area is in the early stage of fire recovery.

Rating

This is a long uphill trail with some technical sections. Overall, it is an aerobic challenge that will probably have your wind running out before your legs do. The downhill ride back makes the long climb worth it. The trail between the old prison camp and wilderness boundary is an easy climb up a jeep road that's washed out in places.

How to get there

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

Trail Log

0.0	Follow the road to the campground from the parking lot at Molino Basin.
0.1	Watch for the trail on the left just past the wash. There should be a waist-high brown fiberglass stake marking the Arizona Trail.
0.3	Trail crosses a dead end road being returned to nature. The wash crossing is sometimes slick with algae when the water's running.
1.1	A marked trail forks off to the right to the campground. Don't take it.
2.2	Saddle. Keep going or turn around for a shorter ride. This log keeps going.
2.3	Marked trail forks right to new campground at the old prison camp. Stay left unless you want to play in the campground.
3.0	Trail becomes a dirt road. Follow the drainage heading northwest. Fire removed the groundcover so the wash has lots of sand. Pick a route and grind through it.
3.9	Pusch Ridge Wilderness boundary at a cleared area on the saddle. Some kindly trail users have removed most of the wilderness signage but don't be fooled. Hikers may continue to Sycamore Dam. Bicyclists turn around for the fast downhill back.

Notes

Start early to avoid traffic on the trail. This is a popular trail with weekenders and resort groups.

Mountain bikers watch out for hikers and horses 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.

Trail maintenance can be dangerous if you're not paying attention. This trail has rubber tire sections across the trail to divert water and reduce trail erosion. These are a pain riding uphill and can throw you on the descents.

Variations

Molino Canyon Vista start. Park and start from Molino Canyon Vista point (~MP 4.5). This will not require a Catalina Mountains pass and you get an extra 15 minutes of warm-up riding up the highway.

Arizona Trail - Molino Basin East
Arizona Trail - Molino Basin Slingshot