Mountain Biking at Tucson Mountain Park: Best Trails & Route Recommendations
Tucson is home to a lot of great small mountain biking trail networks, but the largest – and arguably the best – is Tucson Mountain Park.
Located on the west side of the city, Tucson Mountain Park packs a lot in with over 100 miles of trail and a good variety of terrain. You can find fast and flowy desert tracks as well as rough and rowdy rock gardens and everything in between (although there is nothing too technical there – you gotta go to Mt. Lemmon for that). It’s also beautiful!
I’ve really enjoyed all my rides at this preserve and I’ve covered pretty much all there is to offer. In this post, I share my thoughts on the best trails to ride, route recommendations, and tips for planning your Tucson Mountain Park mountain biking adventures.
Quick Tips
For mountain biking at Tucson Mountain Park
TWW Take
Please note that these are my personal opinions – you may argue otherwise! And if so, state your case (politely) in the comments 🙂
Fun-ness Factor
Trail Variety
Average Difficulty
Should you Ride Tucson Mountain Park?
What I like
What I don’t
4-Day Tucson Mountain Biking Itinerary
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Planning Your Tucson Mountain Park Rides
Best trails to hit
While Tucson Mountain Park is the largest trail network in Tucson, that doesn’t mean all of the trails are great trails. Some are best ridden in one direction while others are best left to the hikers and equestrians. Here are what I consider the ‘best’ trails to ride:
- El Grupo Lower (beginner)
- Little Cat (intermediate)
- Shemwell Trail (intermediate)
- Rock Wren (intermediate)
- Ledge Surfer (intermediate)
Tip: I recommend doing Shemwell as a climb so you don’t have to climb Explorer.
Route recommendations
- Tucson Mountain Park – Northside (intermediate) – A great for intermediate riders or for your first time riding in Tucson. It’s got a little bit of everything without being too techy or lung-busting.
- Tucson Mountain Park – Southside (intermediate+) – I really enjoyed exploring these southside trails (thanks, Glenn, for the tour!). This route has a bit more tech and advanced riding than the route above, so I recommend doing it as a second ride at Tucson Mountain Park.
Tucson Mountain Park Trail Map
What about Explorer? You may be tempted to add this black-rated trail to your ride, but the full Explorer is kind of a beat-down. Instead, I recommend following the routes I’ve included above, which have sections of Explorer in them, but not the full trail.
FAQs & Planning Tips
🚗 Getting there: Tucson Mountain Park is located on the west side of the city. It’s the largest network of trails in Tucson with over 100 miles of singletrack. On TrailForks, it’s labeled “Enchanted Hills”, which is a small section of the larger Tucson Mountain Park.
🅿️ Parking: There are several parking areas for accessing the trails at Tucson Mountain Park. The two that I recommend (and use in my route recommendations below) are:
There are several other trailheads around the preserve, but I was warned that some of them are a bit dicey and there have been break-ins.
🗺️ Navigating the trails: The trails are mostly well-signed with maps at every major intersection, but I still recommend having a mountain bike trail app downloaded to your phone.
🚻 Bathrooms: There are no bathrooms at the trailheads.
💧 Water: There is no water at the trailheads or on the trails. Bring all that you need with you.
📅 How many days: I recommend two days at Tucson Mountain Park. It’s pretty big, so you’ll need more than a day to explore all the trails.
☀️ When to go: Winter (November through March) is ideal for mountain biking in Tucson.
🚲 What type of bike to bring: A short or mid-travel full-suspension bike would be best. You could also get away with a hardtail.
⚡️ E-bikes: e-bike are not allowed at Tucson Mountain Park (but you’ll probably see them…)
Need gear recs?
Head over to my gear closet! I’m always testing out new pieces of bike gear and if I really like them, they earn a place on this page.
I hope this post gives you all the info and motivation to head out to Tucson Mountain Preserve for a ride (or two!). It’s a great place to enjoy a variety of terrain and awesome views of Tucson’s surrounding mountain ranges. Enjoy!
Have you ridden at Tucson Mountain Preserve? What are your favorite trails or routes? What questions do you still have? Leave a comment below!
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