As a native Tucsonan, I have had the opportunity to explore much of what Southern Arizona has to offer. From outdoor activities, sporting events, museums, buildings to a laundry list of other locations and events.
As I begin to think about my favorite place, I kept coming back to a location that has provided fond memories from my childhood and now in my parenthood. My favorite place is Mount Lemmon.
While Mount Lemmon is only a small portion of the Santa Catalina Mountain Range, I have always called the entire range Mount Lemmon since I was young.
Mount Lemmon offers visitors a wide variety of activities such as hiking, camping, fishing, skiing, picnics, stargazing and photography just to name a few.
What is great about Mount Lemmon is its location relative to Tucson and the surrounding communities. It is less than a two-hour drive from almost anywhere from Benson to Marana.
In the summer when the valley is in the middle of triple digits, you can drive up Mount Lemmon for a quick escape and have, at least, a 20-degree temperature swing.
Michael Nervik
Many days in my youth were spent in Boy Scouts, hiking all around the various trails and even just out in the forest. I learned how to wilderness camp in both summer and winter on Mount Lemmon. Many nights were spent in our sleeping bags in the open looking at the stars.
Watching the stars above the tops of the ponderosa pines was magical as a kid and I have been able to now share that with my two daughters.
Speaking of the stars, astronomy is another benefit that the mountain provides. Many astronomers will travel to the mountain for stargazing to get away from the city lights. The University of Arizona runs a telescope on Mount Bigelow.
Mount Lemmon also provides a place in the winter for snowtime activities such as sledding, skiing and snowboarding.
At the peak of Mount Lemmon sits Ski Valley, affording you the opportunity in the winter to play in the snow during the day and come back down to the valley by dinner time. My daughters love playing in the snow each year on the mountain, trying to find hidden spots to sled or have snowball fights.
Vehicles make their way up Catalina Highway near Windy Point Vista after a 2019 snowfall.
The drive to Mount Lemmon is an interesting one. It offers up a variety of microclimates and biodiversity that can only be seen in the Sonoran Desert.
As you begin your drive at the base of the mountain, you are surrounded in the foothills by saguaros, chollas, creosote bushes, and other typical Sonoran Desert vegetation.
As you begin to climb in elevation, the saguaros and desert plants are replaced by high desert grasses and shrubs. You will even see some smaller evergreen bushes and manzanita.
The climb gets higher and you reach an area where the plants seem to be overtaken and replaced by rock outcroppings known as hoodoos.
Once you make the switchbacks through the hoodoos and numerous vistas, you begin into the forest areas with cottonwoods, oaks and aspens. As you reach 6,000-7,000 feet, you start to come into the ponderosa pines and oaks that will be your surroundings for the remainder of the trip up to the peak which lies just under 10,000 feet.
Hikers trek the Meadow Trail just under the summit of 9,157-foot Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains in 2018.
The drive is also known as a Sky Islands Scenic Byway. There is an app you can download from the University of Arizona that you can listen to during the drive β my kids love this.
I would be remiss if I did not mention Summerhaven.
Summerhaven is a small mountain town near the top of Mount Lemmon. I remember visiting as a child and walking through the town made up of small shops and private wood cabins as far as you could see.
Rachel Steers, family member and employee at The Mount Lemmon Cookie Cabin Pizzeria and Eatery, shovels snow off the front porch of the cookie cabin following a recent snowfall in Summerhaven.
We would go up on the mountain just to have dinner or lunch in Summerhaven and get a cookie and ice cream at the Cookie Cabin. If you asked my daughters, they will probably tell you that their favorite place is the Cookie Cabin.
Seventeen years ago, Summerhaven was completely burned due to the Aspen Fire. Miraculously on the anniversary of that fire, the skill and bravery of firefighters during the recent Bighorn Fire saved Summerhaven and Ski Valley.
The Bighorn Fire burned to the outskirts of Summerhaven as seen from the Mount Lemmon Fire Department on Aug. 2, 2020.
I have lived through many fires on Mount Lemmon in my time here. One thing that always happens is new life that will come from the ashes. I hope that you get a chance to explore Mount Lemmon and take advantage of the wonderful space that is Mount Lemmon.
