About Tucson's Redington Pass

Tanque Verde Falls in Tucson, Arizona

Tanque Verde Falls is located east of Tucson, Arizona in an area known as Redington Pass. Located between the Catalina Mountains and the Rincon Mountains, Redington Pass is an outdoor paradise. It is one of the best areas around Tucson for off-roading and firearm activities. It is also a well known hiking destination. Keep in mind that if you expect to find water you will need to go during the rainy season or when the snow melts. This area dries up during other times of the year.

Lower Tanque Verde Falls

From Tanque Verde and Houghton on the east side of Tucson, go east 3 miles. Tanque Verde will then turn into Redington Road. Continue east for another three miles. Redington Road will cross a wash and start heading up the hill doing switchbacks. It will quickly turn into a dirt road at that point. Follow that road for another half mile to the first dirt parking area on the left. Park there and cross to the east side of the road where the trail begins. There are some danger signs saying that the rocks are slippery and people have died here. These are not to be taken lightly as the rocks are very slippery and there are some areas that most would consider quite dangerous. Granted most of the deaths have been due to a combination of intoxication and cliff jumping. If you are going to make this hike, please do be careful.

Please be advised that Pima County Sheriff's Department has stated that they will ticket anyone in the area removing clothing beyond the typical swimwear. Upper Tanque Verde Falls has been known for many years, even though it's not legal, as a clothing optional area. The hike described here is for Lower Tanque Verde Falls. I've never seen nudity in this area, but I've only been a few times.

The hike to Tanque Verde Falls is not very far, approximately 1.5 miles. But there is a lot of boulder scrambling which dramatically increases the difficulty and time it takes to do the hike. There are several smaller waterfalls along the way. The final waterfall drops about 50 feet into a very large swimming hole.

One of the smaller waterfalls on the way to Tanque Verde Falls

The Lower Tanque Verde Waterfall drops about 50 feet and has a huge swimming hole

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Century 21 1st American

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~ Harris Hawk on Saguaro ~

"Looking for dinner"

I hiked this afternoon in Reddington Pass, high in the Rincon Mountains that border the city of Tucson on the east side. This Harris Hawk and two of her friends were looking for something to eat. They weren't very interested in me, so long as I stayed in my Explorer, and I had the opportunity to capture this photo.

Harris Hawks hunt like wolves ~ in packs, dominated by an Alpha Female. When they kill prey, they share the spoils.

Reddington Road leads up and over the Rincon Mountains, and into the watershed for the San Pedro river. It's paved until you get to the boundary of the Coronado National Forest, and then it's a dirt road up and over the top. If you come to visit Tucson, you won't want to miss this!

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Coming back from hunting in Willcox, AZ last weekend, I drove through Redington Pass. It was the first time for me to come through this area. One of the interesting things for me about Tucson is that, as the city is abutted by mountains on two sides, some of the major roads actually become dirt trails leading up into the mountains. This is the case for Tanque Verde Road, which transforms from four lanes to being a mountain trail within a matter of miles.

Redington Pass is popular with ATVs, dirt bikers and hunters, but the main road is actually in pretty good condition. If you live in Tucson and have never been out there, I highly recommend a trip. The views of the mountains are spectacular, and the pass is full of deer, javelina, coyotes and even a healthy population of mountain lions. There are also some beautiful homes out there - a rough commute I imagine.

Most impressive for me though were the saguaro cacti. We have big ones all around Tucson, including in Vail, where I live, but I have not seen any which compare with these. It can take a saguaro up to 75 years to develop an arm, and can live for over 150 years. I can only guess at how old this one is.

A few more in the same area - there are a large number of very old and developed cacti here, bigger than what we typically see around urban areas. These are genuinely beautiful plants, even though they aren't pretty in a convention sense.

I'm Simon Smart, a loan officer in Tucson with Sunstreet Mortgage. If I can do something to help you out, give me a call.