outsideluke
New member
Going up Mount Lemmon, without so much pavement.
So one of the more popular things to do in Tucson during the heat of the summer is to make the 28 mile drive up the very nicely paved road to the crowded little town of Summerhaven. The town sits at an elevation of 8,200 feet making it considerably cooler. During my trip it was about 30 degrees cooler actually, a nice retreat from the 112 degree day down in Tucson.
What fun is there to be had in going the same way that everyone else goes? I started looking at Google earth and then tried to put in my two locations (the bottom of Mount Lemmon and then the Top) and get directions. Of course it went straight up the paved road, but I started dragging the route around to see if there was another way… lone behold there was, at least according to Google. So I gave it a shot.
The route I used was Redington Pass almost all the way to the end. About 27 miles back you make a left onto a gas pipeline service road and follow that all the way to Old Mount Lemmon Highway. Overall it was about 50 miles off road to get to the same spot I would have been at had I taken the paved road. The only dicey part was on the gas pipeline road where it crosses some of the washes, needed 4 Low, and the climb up and down some of the hills is pretty steep, otherwise it was all 2WD.
I have th gpx file if anyone wants it.
- Luke
So one of the more popular things to do in Tucson during the heat of the summer is to make the 28 mile drive up the very nicely paved road to the crowded little town of Summerhaven. The town sits at an elevation of 8,200 feet making it considerably cooler. During my trip it was about 30 degrees cooler actually, a nice retreat from the 112 degree day down in Tucson.
What fun is there to be had in going the same way that everyone else goes? I started looking at Google earth and then tried to put in my two locations (the bottom of Mount Lemmon and then the Top) and get directions. Of course it went straight up the paved road, but I started dragging the route around to see if there was another way… lone behold there was, at least according to Google. So I gave it a shot.
The route I used was Redington Pass almost all the way to the end. About 27 miles back you make a left onto a gas pipeline service road and follow that all the way to Old Mount Lemmon Highway. Overall it was about 50 miles off road to get to the same spot I would have been at had I taken the paved road. The only dicey part was on the gas pipeline road where it crosses some of the washes, needed 4 Low, and the climb up and down some of the hills is pretty steep, otherwise it was all 2WD.
I have th gpx file if anyone wants it.
- Luke
