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Santa Rita Mountains

Arizona > Southern Arizona

Description

The Santa Rita Mountains are located 30 miles south of Tucson. This impressive range is home to Mt Wrightson, one of the taller peaks in Southern Arizona. While popular among hikers and bikers, there is precious little established climbing in this range. The remoteness and inconsistent rock quality of the crags here have probably deterred route development.

Nevertheless, there are a few 'gems', and the spectacular scenery is hard to beat.

Getting There

From Tucson, drive I-19 south to exit for Madera Canyon. This is the developed recreational area, run by the USFS. Other parts of the range can be accessed by various forest roads.

Photos [Hide ALL Photos]

N. Face w/Rocktology route line and belays drawn in. Photo courtesy of Riley Merline.
[Hide Photo] N. Face w/Rocktology route line and belays drawn in. Photo courtesy of Riley Merline.

Comments [Hide ALL Comments]

Casey Erin
San Diego, CA
[Hide Comment] I hiked the Old Baldy trail to Mt. Wrightson for the first time yesterday and the amount of rock towards the top is incredible. It is too bad it is a hike of 5 miles and 4000 feet of elevation gain away. There are a lot of boulders right in the canyon though, don't think they seem much climbing though. Aug 22, 2010