Planned for Tucson's west side - two new trails

Two new trail systems are planned for Tucson’s west side.

Pima County officials will hold meetings to get community feedback on the trail systems — one in Tucson Mountain Park west of the city and the other near the park.

A meeting on the planned Painted Hills trail system between Anklam Road and Speedway will be Thursday, May 18. A similar meeting on the Enchanted Hills system near West 36th Street will be on May 25.

“The Painted Hills addition to Tucson Mountain Park and the Enchanted Hills Trails Park will provide trail users with an opportunity to appreciate two new trail systems that will be surrounded with the best of the Sonoran Desert, and have several terrific vista points to enjoy,” said Steve Anderson, planning division manager for the county’s Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation department.

The trail systems will be designed for non-motorized multiple use.

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TRAIL SITES

Anderson said the Painted Hills trail system site totals 289 acres and the Enchanted Hills site is 356 acres.

“The trail system that we’ve planned for the Painted Hills property is relatively mild,” he said. “We think we’ll leave the single-width dirt roads on the site mostly in place, and we’ll put a single-track loop trail around the property, and that’s probably it. We’ll show it to the public and decide where to go with their input. Plus, we intend to revegetate several areas that have been disturbed for decades.”

The Enchanted Hills site will be designated as a trails park, Anderson said.

“It has lots of old roads and trails that are unsustainable on it, and we’ll close and revegetate them, and replace them with a sustainable single-track trail system,” he said. “We’re going to come out way ahead when we do that, because the old roads and trails are fairly wide — up to 12 feet or so — and take up much more space.”