Bear Canyon, Tucson Arizona, November 25, 2024

Today I hiked Bear Canyon in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area. Bear Canyon is the twin to Sabino Canyon and is separated from it by a ridge dominated by Thimble Peak. Both hikes begin at the same trailhead off of the north end of Sabino Canyon Road.

A wide trail leads from the visitor center and parking lot through flat desert to the east and the canyon mouth.

On the way to the beginning of the canyon about a mile and a half away, the trail passes through beautiful desert scenery and crosses the wash of Sabino Creek with it’s band of hardwood trees changing color in the late Arizona autumn.

After cresting a small rise, the trail drops down to Bear Canyon Wash. Unlike Sabino Canyon there is not a paved tram road accessing the first four miles of the canyon.

My goal for the day was to push about a mile past Seven Falls and catch a glimpse of a more remote canyon beyond the normal turn around point for about ninety five percent of the hikers.

After the first mile and a half the wide trail is done. The rest of the way is on a rough but well made single track. In the lower elevations saguaro cactus dominate the landscape. Saguaro National Park is only a few miles away.

Quickly I came to a sign that let me know I was entering the wilderness area.

On the way up the canyon the trail crosses the Bear Canyon Creek Wash seven times. The wash supports limited hardwood trees and some grasses giving a break from the cacti dominated habitat on the canyon rim walls.

From the wash looking up you get a feel for the scale of the landscape. Just a half mile of so into the canyon the walls soar maybe a thousand feet above you.

There’s not a lot of places I’d recommend stumbling off of the trail accidently, but this one would be worse than most.

Four and a half miles from the trailhead I got my first view of Seven Falls. Obviously being in the desert there’s water flowing down this cascade maybe a dozen days out of the year. I bypasses the “Falls” and pushed on up towards the rim of the canyon.

Looking back down the canyon I could see parts of Tucson in the distance. The trail followed the canyon through an S turn and soon the mouth of the canyon was hidden from sight making it seem like I entered a truly remote area.

The wash bottom seemed like an oasis compared to the surrounding canyon. In places there were small ponds where the stream bed was solid rock.

I pushed it maybe a mile past Seven Falls and the trail really closed in. The trail itself was well made but a years worth of vegetative encroachment had an effect. It’s not like the plants I brushed against were soft and spongy. Also I was wearing shorts and low cut shoes.

On the way back towards Seven Falls I had this view of the switchbacks that got me this far. In the Pacific Northwest you don’t usually get to see the path you took as there’s enough trees to hide the trails from across whatever canyon you’re on.

I don’t know what these guys are called but they seem particularly formidable.

So I took the spur path to the bottom pool at Seven Falls. As you can see it’s a popular place. The third pool up (very top of the photo) looked even better from above but getting there would have required a real rock scramble. I saw some youngsters do it but sometimes I need to check my ego. I’m not one of them anymore and broken bones don’t heal real quick anymore. That’s assuming I’d survive the fall.

Below the pool the stone was as smooth as silk. The power of erosion by water is amazing.

So I took a few photos of the lower pond trying to work around the other sightseers and headed back to complete my hike.

The walk back down was just as pretty and the lighting a little different as is was several hours later. The clear blue skies did turn overcast but that was alright with me.

The last mile and a half back was through the desert flats. The retaining wall next to the trail apparently was part of a system used to mitigate runoff from flash floods.

Just before making it back to the visitor center I did get a look at some local wildlife.

I think Bear Canyon might be a little prettier than it’s more popular twin, Sabino Canyon. It sure has a lot less people and not having a tram road the first four miles makes it feel much more remote.

I ended up covering between ten and eleven miles over a six and a half hour time frame. The elevation isn’t bad, maybe a close to fifteen hundred feet, but over a hike that long it was not a bad grade. It is possible to do a loop up Bear Canyon and down Sabino Canyon. If I try that I might give in and take the tram as far up as I can to save a few miles. It would be an all day adventure.