Casa Grande Mountain Park

Driving North from Tucson I have seen this little park nestled inside the ribbons of asphalt between Interstate 8 and 10. I’ve only been able to get a quick peak at it each time I have driven past over the years as you are always having to pay too much attention to the roadway in this long curve. However, today I made sure to find out how to get to this park… and what a pain in the ass that was!

After merging onto I-8 West from I-10 North, take the first exit and head directly away from the mountain park for a mile or two. Turn right on an unmarked dirt road (a pleasure to drive after the rainy day) until it dead-ends. Turn right again, heading directly towards the Interstate again. Pass under the Interstate, a quick jog to the left, then right… oh wait, back up and turn left on that unmarked dirt road then follow for 1/2 mile to the trail head… and ker-blamo you made it!

I spent the morning there just sun bathing, both myself and my solar panels to get to 100% charge before I took off on a short 2-mile hike.What made this hike unique was that the desert was green as a mountain meadow in early spring. The rain from the day before awoke everything in the desert. every inch of the land was covered in a fine grass, each blade topped by a tiny white flower. The cactus’ were flexing their muscles… bulging and full after a day’s worth of thirstily slurping away at the rain water. You could even see the immediate rebirth of life in many of the cactus with the younger needles shining in the sun while the older, and darker, sit below dreaming of rainy days of the past. It really was an amazing sight to see the desert come so alive in such a short period of time.

My hike, though peaceful and easy, came to an abrupt end as some afternoon clouds made a few threats to drench me if I continued. Since I was carrying my camera, and no way to protect it from a deluge, I headed the warning and turned back after only 20 minutes out. The trails themselves were quite easy and well kept which made for a pleasurable hike, not necessarily a difficult one.  I do miss my mountains in Colorado though, and look forward to returning to Colorado at the end of March to get in some more mountain hiking.