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Elevation: 3,000 ft
GPS: 32.3435, -111.1586
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Page Views: 49,619 total · 283/month
Shared By: Chris Prewitt on Oct 26, 2009
Admins: adrian montaño, Greg Opland, Brian Boyd, JJ Schlick, Kemper Brightman, Luke Bertelsen

Description Suggest change

A cluster of massive conglomerate blocks on the west side of the Tucson Mountains, thirty minutes drive from downtown. Over twenty separate boulders lie on a hillside overlooking a quiet basin with Baboquivari and Kitt Peak in the distance. Panther Peak is one of the most concentrated collections of boulder problems in Southern Arizona.

The rock is a strange volcanic conglomerate with pebbles from pea-sized to beach-ball. Some of the cobbles seem like they were placed by skilled craftsmen, others by kids with gum. Rock quality can range from very good to dirt. That said, Panther has some of the steepest jugs and tallest lines around, unlike anything else in the Tucson area.

Drive and Approach Suggest change

from Tucson:
I-10 N to Ina, West on Ina to Wade (2.8mi)
Left on Wade which becomes Picture Rocks Rd.
5mi from Ina/Wade turn Right on Van Ark.
At the stop sign go right on Ina (now it's dirt.) Park at trailhead on corner of Ina and Desert View (1.3 mi from Picture Rocks Rd.) Please don't block the mailboxes.

Trail: (45 minutes out, 30 back)
Take the first right and stay on the main trail until the wash then make a right. (about 10 minutes)
Hike the about 50yds up the wash then take the branch on the right. The sand isn't as deep. Follow this to the fence, bypassing on the left. A few more minutes until a cairn marks a gap in the bushes on the left. Go right then up the short hill.

Now you should be on a plateau with open ground between saguaros. Walk in the direction of the right of two distant canyons (you are actually going to the top of the left one, but this keeps you from going uphill way to soon). This should take you across mostly flat ground and avoiding a large cholla forest. Try to stay in the center of the alluvial fan "rib". Eventually you should intersect a rocky wash. Up the wash for a few minutes then onto a faint trail on the right side.
At the upper part of the canyon the path merges back into the wash for a short distance before going up the right side to pass the first large boulder. Once above the canyon, get to the Split/HUB area by working straight up the hillside bearing slightly right. For the Pyramid, etc. it is easier to first hike up the hill to the right, finally turning toward the boulders near top of the saddle.

53 Total Climbs

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