Tortolitas - Super Loop

November 18, 2022 hike: Tortolita Super Loop: starting in the bottom left corner of the map, Wild Burro to Alamo Spring to Ridgeline to Wild Burro to Wild Mustang to Upper Javelina to Lower Javelina to Upper Burro. This loop is the longest loop possible in the Tortolitas, taking all of the joining perimeter trails starting from and terminating at the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain parking lot. I hiked the loop counterclockwise. The trail is about an hour northwest of downtown Tucson.

This was the first time I have hiked in the Tortolitas and it was my second hike this season. The range is fairly low, with most hiking in the high-2,000 to low 4,000 foot altitude range. This meant there was limited continous climbing (the highest single vertical was 1,171 feet on the Alamo Spring section). The trail provides numerous cut-off opportunities, enabling hikers to choose the trail length they prefer. The longest loop, which I took, is very long, and has three notable up-down sections (Alamo Spring, Ridgeline and Wild Mustang). The longest loop is 16.5 miles with a solid total vertical of 2,799 feet according to my trail app, so it was a good workout, especially for a second hike of the season.

The terrain included a lot of modest mountains and ridges and a very large central bowl. Views were nice, with some spectacular views of Pusch Ridge to the east (the western edge of the Catalinas), nice vistas of the Tortolitas across the central bowl and panoramas of Tucson and the Tucson mountains to the south. The flora is mostly typical Sonoran desert floor plants: saguaros, barrel and prickly pear cacti, mesquite and palo verde trees, creosote bushes and desert flowers (very few out in November) and grasses. The only somewhat-notable fauna were Javelina.

The weather was beautiful with copious sun, temps in the high-60s to low-70s and very light winds. It was definitely a sunscreen day, as there is almost no cover anywhere on the trail. The trails are very well marked and mostly quite smooth, enabling me to cover a lot of distance.

Photo 1 looks back (west) at the start of the trail at the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain resort from part way up the Alamo Spring trail. Below the resort, you can see the wash that forms broad central bowls further up the trails.

Photo 2 looks northeast at a bowl (not the main central bowl) beside the Alamo Spring trail. Youcan see the numerous saguaros and other desert flora found throughout the trails plus the beautiful blue skies of the day.

Photo 3 is a video taken near the end of the Alamo Spring trail. It pans from southwest to northeast, first following the wash valley that runs through the middle of the southern part of the hike and then surveying the vast bowl at the northern-most part of the hike. The Ridgeline trail starts just down the mountain from the video spot and circles the vast northern bowl. You can also see many modest mountain peaks, which are typical of the Tortolita range.

Photo 4 shows a particularly a beautiful stand of saguaros set against beautiful rockfaces. There are a lot of saguaro in nearly every part of the trail system.

Photo 5 looks east from the Ridgeline trail. The ridge in the background is Pusch Ridge, the western side of the Catalina mountains. Some of the town of Oro Valley lies between the Catalinas and the Tortolitas.

Photos 6 and 7 show views of the vast northern bowl from the north end of the Ridgeline trail. Photo 6 looks southwest across the bowl toward the resort while photo 7 looks northwest toward the mountains in the center of the range.

Photo 8 is taken on Wild Burro trail, part way back (near where the two sides of the loop come together). The trail is relatively flat here, following the wash. There are vast stands of saguaros on south-facing hillsides.

Photo 9 looks east from the top of the Wild Mustang trail, near the southwest corner of the loop. You can see saguaros on the Tortolitas near the trail in the foreground and the Catalina mountains Pusch Ridge in the background in the late afternoon sun. I was pretty tired by then, but that view made it all worthwhile!

Photo 10 was taken from Wild Mustang trail about 2 miles from the end of the hike. I'm well down the mountains of the West Mustang trail, but there was still a steep rocky section in a shaded area ahead (behind the ridge on the left). You can see some of the golf courses around the Dove Mountain resort and housing complexes at the bottom of the mountains and the large flat valley floor of Oro Valley and Tucson in the distance. The mountains in the far distance are the Santa Ritas to the south of Tucson. A small part of Pusch Ridge is also poking out in the distance in the middle-left of the picture.

The Tortolitas turned out to be a great find. The beautiful weather helped, as did the rolling terrain and relatively easy trails, but the long distance and solid total vertical made for a nice mix of enjoyment and a great workout. It is a great way to develop trail stamina at the start of a hiking season.

Hike stats: 16.5 miles and 2,799 feet of total vertical, with a peak altitude of 4,230 feet in 6 hours 58 minuts. Per my usual comments, this trail can be hiked faster - I spent a lot of time taking pictures and videos.