Catalinas - Romero Canyon

February 18, 2022 hike: Romero Canyon to Romero Pass.

What an incredible day for a hike! Crystalline skies, temps in the 60s and 70s and low winds.

I think Romero has some of the most spectacular mountain vistas in the Catalinas, Rincons and Tucson mountains.

The one issue with this trail is the Bighorn fire caused significant damage at the top of the trail and the subsequent regrowth has resulted in a lot of thorny plants growing across the trail in the very steep top section. It is already very hard hiking up there due to the steepness, erosion and difficulty in finding the trail. The spiky plants add an extra challenge. I have a nice selection of fresh scratches! The good news is that I passed a team of Rangers who were cleaning up the trail. They're doing a great job, but hadn't reached the top area, which is most in need of pruning. I thanked the Rangers and noted to one of them that they are doing a monumental gardening project!

Photo 1 was taken part way up the front range of Pusch Ridge, which is the western edge of the Catalinas, facing Oro Valley. The mountains are extremely rugged in this area. I think they are some of the most beautiful in the Catalinas.

Photo 2 shows some of the impressive saguaro stands in the front range plus the incredibly blue sky of the day.

Photo 3 is taken from the backside of the front range of Pusch Ridge as it plunges down to Romero Pools. The canyon on the left is Romero Canyon and I believe the canyon to the left is Montrose Canyon (no trails).

After the Pools, you ascend to a grass plateau, which is shown in Photo 4.

Photo 5 shows the very dramatic stream gorge in the middle of the canyon. This is near the end of the grassy plateau.

Photo 6 looks up at one of the canyons along the south wall of Romero Canyon, just beyond the gorge shown in photo 5. The Romero Pass canyon is the next canyon to the east.

Photo 7 looks southeast down the West Fork, which marks the eastern boundary of the Sabino Canyon recreational district. It amazing to think that you can hike from Oro Valley to Sabino on this trail!

Photo 8 is a video that surveys the West Fork area. It starts looking northeast from Romero Pass and pans south past the snow-capped Rincons, Rincon Peak in the distance, West Fork Canyon in the foreground and then continues toward the west to the mountains of the Cathedral Rock district, which is the highest peak in the front-side Catalinas facing Tucson.

Photo 9 shows some of the very tall pines in central Romero Canyon near Romero stream.

Photo 10 looks from the central plateau of the canyon toward the Tucson suburb of Oro Valley and the Tortolita mountains in the western distance.

Photo 11 looks at the steep descent in the front-range mountains leading to the flat trail in Catalina State Park. This marks the end of the mountains for the day. The photo, taken at 4:22 pm, shows the beautiful end-of-afternoon sun.

Photos 12-16 show some of the wildflowers out on the trail.

Once again, a great hike on a stunning day!

Hike stats: 14.1 miles round trip and 3,300 foot elevation gain, 6 hours and 42 minutes of hiking/trail running.