Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Overview
This trail attracts many hikers on its lower part but fewer hikers in its difficult higher
reaches than the more-iconic Finger Rock Trail or the ever-popular Sabino Canyon.
Those who go high enjoy superb views, including the rarely seen back side of Finger
Rock, before bagging the summit of Mount Kimball. Two small dams built to at-
tract wildlife provide splashes of water, riparian plants, butterflies, and birds. I almost
graded this hike a 2 for kids until I encountered a tough family group that included
a 10-year-old boy, who told me it was “really, really hard, and we got lost, but Dad
found the way.”
Route Details
The attractive trailhead at the east end of the parking lot features monuments to
former Pima County Supervisor Iris O. Dewhirst, after whom the trailhead is named
and who helped maintain public access to Pima Canyon during housing development
in the 1980s, and to Tom Bingham, who was also involved in preserving canyon ac-
cess and who died in 1992 while rock-climbing alone in the canyon he loved.
The trail heads generally east, passing informative signs and scattered upscale
homes, and soon dips under a bridge that carries Barrel Cactus Drive above hikers.
Then it begins to climb steadily but not steeply, with views of most of Tucson to your
right and saguaro forest to your left. Enter Pima Canyon fairly high on the left side as
the trail swings northeast and away from the city.
