Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve. Oro Valley, AZ. Dec, 2025. We were staying at a resort in the Oro…read moreValley, and checking out various places to take our daily walk. My husband stumbled upon this preserve, and what a find it was! On the site of a former golf course, the preserve boosts a 6.2 mile, eight-foot-wide concrete path that winds through the property providing visitors with views of the Catalina and Tortolita mountains, examples of varied Sonoran Desert vegetation, and the opportunity to view wildlife. The Preserve is surrounded by residential neighborhoods, and we could see homes around the edges. We walked a bit over three miles, and saw a fair number of walkers and bicyclists. Virtually everyone greeted us as we passed. Based on their website, it seems that there are active efforts to protect this valuable resource. The Preserve is open from dawn to dusk and temporary parking, with a well-maintained port-a-potty is located at 945 W. Vistoso Highlands Dr.

This location used to be a golf course which closed in 2018. Once it closed, residents of Oro…read moreValley fought to keep it as a nature preserve instead of letting developers turn it into more housing. The reisdents won and there's plans to completely redo the area into a preserve. In the meantime though, it's open to the public as a walking, hiking or biking trail. You can see the remnants of the old golf course while taking in some stunning views. The pathways are nice and wide as they used to be for the golf carts. Such a hidden gem in Oro Valley....I hope however that folks will come and explore this place. It's beautiful and absolutely deserves to stay as it is.

I came here on a Saturday morning around 10AM, and the parking lot still has plenty of space…read morealthough there were people out and about. The trail itself wasn't the most interesting as the views were all the same, so the hike seemed pretty long. According to the maps at the trailhead, this hike is 8.5 miles, not 8. The Burro trail coming back is mostly flat. Took about 3.5 hours to do the hike, and saw quite a few people on the trail too.

We have hiked this trail several times and especially like taking the western Lower Javelina trail…read moreout and then returning on the Wild Burro trail. Very scenic and just enough challenge.

To be up in the clouds is truly the most marvelous thing. I rummaged these photos from Google…read morePhotos and I can still remember this memory. I was traveling in Tucson, Arizona and my team's idea of a day off is absolutely playing tourist so my co-workers and I took the scenic route up to Mount Lemmon and this was the breath taking view. Arizona will always have my heart for the scenic views, gorgeous mountains, and for the really tall cacti!!!

I visited this vista point along Mt. Lemmon late April. It was a Friday evening with a few folks…read morebut it wasn't as crowded as I expected for the most popular sunset spot when it comes to Mt Lemmon. There was plenty of parking available. Can't go wrong with a Tucson sunset view!

The Mount Bigelow campsite is located just a few miles from Summerhaven, Mount Lemmon. As you're…read moredriving up General Hitchcock highway, you can turn right onto Bigelow Rd....which is mostly a dirt road. Campsites can be found along the road. As far as I know, Mount Bigelow is open year round. Spring camping can still be pretty chilly up on the mountain, so pack layers and check the weather for Mount Lemmon if you're planning an overnight stay, elevation is well over 8,000 feet, after all. The well know Butterfly Hiking trail also connects to Mount Bigelow, so it's really a win win in terms of location and access.

New to Marana and looking for a nice place to walk our dog (and ourselves) and Tangerine Sky Park…read morewas perfect. They have a large dog park including a separate area for small dogs that was very well kept. There's some seating area and water for the doggies. The community here is friendly too. After a few laps around the dog park, we walked the trail around the park. This was nice aside from the rattlesnake near the path -- yikes! Luckily it was early morning enough that I don't think it would have really done any harm but definitely keep an eye out if you go. The park is cute too with a large children's play area. There's something for everyone and even in the hot summer months there was a good crowd here.

Beautiful park very clean and well lit after dark. We had a great time there! The two "zip line"…read moreoptions were so much fun even for me!!

Marshall your energy, the gulch awaits! My dad and I decided to take on the Marshall Gulch and…read moreAspen trail loop this Saturday and had a nice time exploring this area of the Mount Lemmon wilderness. Unlike much of the mountainside, this trail has a significant amount of forested area with ferns, aspen trees, and of course the fairly steeped sides ravine where the gulch stands, now dry in the hot Arizona summer temperatures. Also interesting is a significant wild fire burned a large portion of Mount Lemmon about five years ago. As a result, many charred trees still stand upright in the area towering above areas rich with plant growth due to the nutrient rich ash fall. The trail itself, combined with Aspen trail forms a loop that is almost exactly 4 miles long. I noticed that All Trails has it listed as 3.6 miles but was able to track our walk with my watch. The hike is what I would consider to be moderate. There are definitely portions with steeper ascent and also portions that can be a bit narrow. If you're a beginner hiker, it is doable but be prepared to take breaks and drink a lot of water. Regardless of your hiking skill, I would strongly recommend going counterclockwise as there is significant elevation change on the southern and eastern parts of the loop. This is much nicer to go down this section rather than up. Other notes - there are bathrooms at the trail head but no handwashing sinks so try to bring some hand sanitizer or wipes. There are also a few small parking areas near the trail head but these do fill up quickly and require a $8 daily fee, paid by an envelope dropbox honor system. Overall, great hike!

Let's just get this out of the way - I am completely, totally, and wholly a hiking novice. My…read moreintermediate (she would say "advanced beginner") hiker friend thankfully planned all our hiking getaways during our Tucson stay and I'm so pleased she opted for Mount Lemmon to be one of our destinations! We arrived at Marshall Gulch Trailhead . . . a little intimidated about how to proceed so we asked some hikers, we assumed to be more seasoned than us (we were right to assume this, as nearly everyone was more experienced than us, har har) and they recommended the easier trail. I wish I could remember the specifics, but I relied on my directionally-able friend to guide us (I am truly useless)! We went counterclockwise to save us from grueling inclines, but that just meant our descent was a little trickier than we would have ideally liked, haha. A segment of our hike was on the Arizona Trail, so that was pretty cool. We then did a second much easier flatter hike. Anyway, this particular hike ended up being my favorite because of the varied elevations, beautiful views, and friendly other hikers we encountered while on our hikes!

I'm so pleased we found this dog park. We've been to many over the past few months with our new…read moredog. Most are pretty good but they run the gamut from too small like the one closest to our home to too large like at Reid Park. Some have unfriendly people and some have people that use the park in lieu of a single's bar. (Seriously!) Others hardly ever have dogs other than very large breeds. Northwest is near enough to our home to be able to be a daily trip for our girl. The people are friendly and the dogs are well behaved. Our dog loves to romp with the usual crowd who show up in the late afternoon just before sunset. By the way, the dog park here is a FABULOUS place to take in gorgeous sunsets over the mountains. There is a large dog and small dog area and people at this park seem to actually pay attention to those designations unlike the Pit Bull owners at Reid Park. Likewise, the breeds that are present are well behaved and not aggressive. There is the occasional steroid pumped guy with a Pit but it's not an everyday occurrence and they usually don't stay but for a minute or two. Northwest has, by far, the friendliest, most fun, and least pretentious crowd of owners and dogs I've seen in Tucson. A great way to spend the close of the day! Addendum: Ever since we've been going to dog parks in Tucson, I've wondered why they all have picnic tables and in addition really slick rock tables. I never thought people actually ate meals in a dog park until I saw people at this park with food recently. Obviously, it was an issue as all the dogs wanted to check out the food. But the real problem came a few days later when we took our dog to the park. She smelled the food that had been spilled on the table and jumped right up (something she never does at home). Before we could reach her she'd lost her footing on the slick rock surface and skidded off onto the ground. She tore her Cranial Cruciate Ligament and we're left with a hurting dog and a $2000+ vet bill for surgery. Then I found out that my pharmacist's dog had an identical injury from this same slick rock picnic table at the dog park. So, I've lowered my rating of the park (and all others) until the parks department takes appropriate action and removes these high slick tables from the parks (particularly the small do areas) and stops people from bringing human food into the dog park for a picnic. If you are going, station yourself near the table so you can grab your dog if they decide to jump up to investigate the food smells!

On the smaller size, but recent improvements have been made. Over a dozen trees planted, little…read moremore than sticks yet. Better parking. Separate sides for large/small dogs. Water. Grass trying really hard to grow. The people that come here are what make the difference, and the same people tend to come at the same times. Some chat and ignore their dogs while they poop, dig, and even fight. Others are great, attentive to their pet's needs, and actively playing with them. Many work on improving the park themselves, picking up rocks, filling in holes, and providing bags, paper towels, balls, scoopers. It's all about your timing.

The trainer Scott is a certified judge , teaches children to older adults , lovely view , bathrooms…read moreand friendly owner Becky

Lucky Charm Riding Center has been a haven of happiness for my children. They look forward to their…read moreprivate lesson all week. The instructors are superb, location is gorgeous, the horses my children ride are calm, intelligent, well trained and obviously loved very much. There is a wonderful playground under the shade of a tree. Grooming the horses has turned out to be just as much fun as riding. It's such a joy to watch my children care and bond with these wonderful creatures and develop new skills each time. Good for the soul. I highly recommend Lucky Charm Riding Center!