The Pima canyon hike to Mt Kimball is a real workout, covering 15 miles round-trip and more than 4,600 feet of vertical. The trail is also quite challenging to follow at the top of Pima Canyon and on Mt Kimball due to low hiker traffic and fire damage from the Big Horn fire of June 2020. Hikers who experience acrophobia may also find the trail's proximity to cliffs to be disconcerting in the area where the trail transitions from Pima Canyon to the slopes of Mt Kimball.
The weather for this hike was beautiful with copious sun, temps in the low-70s and very light winds. Hiker traffic was moderate in the lower canyon, but I only encountered one hiker and one hiker group after the dam in Pima Canyon, which is about one-third up the canyon. There is usually very light hiker traffic in the upper parts of the Catalinas trails due to distance and increased trail difficulty.
Photo 1 looks west at the Tucson mountains from near the start of the trail. The highest peak is Wasson Peak (4,688 feet). Wasson Peak provides beautiful views of Tucson and the Catalina mountains. Wasson peak can be reached on the moderate-effort Tucson mountain trails of King Canyon or Hugh Norris.
Photo 2 shows the dramatic scene entering the canyon. The canyon is quite broad at the bottom, creating an panorama of massive mountain walls in the gorgeous morning sun.
Photo 3 shows "the Cleaver", a steep mountain outcropping on the long western ridge (Pusch Ridge) near the start of the canyon. Pusch Ridge includes three major mountains, Pusch Mountain, Big Horn Mountain and Table Mountain, which provide an impressive panorama, especially when viewed from the west (check out the photos in our Tortolitas Super Loop page). The Cleaver is located between Pusch Peak and Big Horn Mountain.
Photo 4 looks up the canyon from a bit above the dam, the northernmost point in Pima canyon where most hikers stop. The dam is about a third of the way up Pima Canyon. The trail becomes increasingly steeper, less well-marked and more difficult beyond the dam.
Photo 5 is a rock hoodoo that I think looks like a man with glasses. The shot was taken about two-thirds of the way up Pima canyon.
Photo 6 looks down Pima canyon about 80% of the way up the canyon. You can see the impressive canyon walls, part of Tucson beyond the canyon, the Tucson mountains on the west side of Tucson and the Quinlan and Baboquivari ranges in the distances to the southwest. You can see the prominent dome peak of Baboquivari mountain in the Baboquivari range on the left side of the picture and the observatories on Kitt Peak near the end of the Quinlan mountains to the right of the center of the photo.
Photo 7 looks up to the Pima canyon saddle (the treed ridgeline in the middle of the picture between the two rockfaces) from near the top of the western side of Pima canyon. This section of the trail is challenging and sometimes eroded, difficult to follow and may discomfort acrophobiacs. The trail cuts across the grassy section in the left foreground, passes around the base of the large rockface on the left side of the saddle, then crosses the canyon just below the saddle to the steep trail just in front of the rock on the right side of the saddle. The trail then follows the land contour just in front of the large rocks on the east side of Pima canyon (right side of the photo) passing near a number of steep drop-offs (this is where acrophobiacs may encounter discomfort). The trail eventually exits onto the southwest flank of Mt Kimball near the extreme right of the photo. The trail on Mt Kimball winds its way up to the peak across sloping but fairly easy terrain, but the trail is tough to follow due to low use and damage from the Big Horn fire.
Photo 8 was taken from the eastern side of the top of Pima canyon, from a spot on the trail near the right side of photo 7. The views are spectacular to the west. Table mountain is the mountain just to the left of the center of the photo that looks like a table-top tilted on a 30 degree angle. The town of Oro Valley (northwestern suburb of Tucson) is just beyond the foregound mountains and the Tortolita mountains are the low range in the extreme right of the photo.
Photos 9 and 10 are two shots of the same tree on the slope of Mt Kimball. The first shot was taken from near the start of the ascent of Mt Kimball looking east. The second picture was taken on the way back about half way down the Mt Kimball slope looking southwest with Oro Valley and the Tortolitas in the background. The slopes of Mt Kimball are heavily forested with some impressive Ponderosa Pine specimens such as the large one in the photos. Unfortunately, the Big Horn fire burned a lot of the Mt Kimball trees. Thankfully, new small trees are already filling in the burned sections of the forest.
Photo 11 looks southwest from near the peak of Mt Kimball at the immense rock massif of Finger Rock. Finger Rock is the small spire about a quarter of the way from the left of the photo. It is an iconic landmark visible from much of north-central Tucson. You can see Tucson beyond the massif with the Tucson mountains on the west side of the city and the Baboquivari and Quinlan mountains in the background.
Photos 12 to 14 were taken from the top of Mt Kimball. Photo 12 is a video looking west. It pans across Pima Canyon and the mountains along the ridge to the north of the canyon in the foreground, with the town of Oro Valley beyond and the Tortolita mountains in the middle ground and the Picacho mountains in the background during the middle part of the video. Photo 13 is a video that pans from the northwest to the southeast, showing most of the Catalina mountains. The high snow-capped peak near the start of the video is Mt Lemmon, the highest Catalina peak (9.171 feet). As the video swings east and south, Cathedral Rock comes into view (the highest point in the southern Catalinas at 7,952 feet) followed by Window Peak (7,468 feet). Further to the south, one sees the Rincon mountains with the snow capped Mica Mountain (8,668 feet) and Rincon Peak (8,482 feet) further south. By reference, Mt Kimball is the highest peak in the western Catalinas at 7,258 feet. Photo 14 is a still photo looking northeast at Mt Lemmon, Cathedral Rock and Window Peak from left to right.
Photo 15 looks down Pima canyon from near the top of the canyon in the late day setting sun. You can see part of the Finger Rock massif in the left side of the picture.
Photo 16 provides a beautiful sunset view from near the mouth of Pima canyon.
All-in-all, this was a long, vertical and tough hike, but it was extremely satisfying for the great views and the strenuous workout.
Hike stats: 15 miles and 4,636 feet of vertical gain to a peak of 7,258 feet in 8 hours, 17 minutes (7 hours 23 minutes excluding picture and lunch time). Note this trail can be completed in less time, as I lost considerable time getting off-track, even with my trail app.
Photo 2 shows the dramatic scene entering the canyon. The canyon is quite broad at the bottom, creating an panorama of massive mountain walls in the gorgeous morning sun.
