Wildflowers below Samaniego Ridge, Catalina AZ

Wildflowers below Samaniego Ridge, Catalina Mts, N of Tucson

This is the rocky,scenic, Granite Dells-like terrain E of Catalina and E
of Sutherland Wash, with spectacular views of both Samaniego & Pusch
Ridges.

Very nice displays of phacelia, lupines, an attractive low-growing
purple vetch, and great Parry's penstemons in wonderful rock-gardens.
Plus several nice patches of cream cups (cream-colored poppies), owl
clover, occasional bluedicks, and various other flowers. Surprisingly
few brittlebush, which must not like granite boulders. This is by far
the nicest wildflower display I've seen this year in metro Tucson

This coarse-grained granite, btw, stoped its way up through the Pinal
schist, then froze with various-size fragments of the schist suspended
in the granite. It also makes great solar heat-storage for a nice stand
of saguaros, near the top of their range here at 3500 ft. You can also
find junipers growing near-adjacent to saguaros nearby, though many of
the junipers, sadly, died in the recent drought.

Directions: in Catalina, turn E on Golder Ranch Rd. (stoplight), follow
it across the Canada bridge to where the pavement ends (cattle guard).
Here you have several options:

a) Park & walk the 50-year trail N (signed, brown wands).

b) drive N about 0.7 mi on the well-worn dirt rd to a powerline rd and
corral. Park here if you have a sedan.

c) HCV's can turn rt (E) on FR 642 (obscurely signed), which follows the
powerline, and here coincides with the 50-yr Trail. I usually stop about
a half-mile in, at an intersection with parking places, but diehard 4x4s
can continue on to the road-end, another mile or so.

Assuming you stop where the road gets rough, follow the signed 50-yr
trail downhill. On the lower flats (1/3 mi?), watch for a trail-sign
wand with a less-travelled trail to the right (E). Follow this trail
across Sutherland Wash and through a wire gate, where there is a steel
vehicle barrier. This is the end of FR 642.

Follow this trail, which is popular with mountain-bikers, into the rocks
and flower-gardens. If you like, continue following the best-worn path
for a couple of miles-- it eventually loops back to the 50-yr trail at a
nice overlook to all the new scrape-&-rape development in the Canada del
Oro valley at Saddlebrooke. More positively, if you find the right
sidetrail hilltop, you'll see an unusual bedrock metate, with a
wonderful view. The return goes through some prime hedgehog-cactus
habitat, but they aren't out yet.

Happy hunting -- 'Phacelia Pete' Tillman