With cooler temperatures forecast for the day, we decided to do a hike we have been wanting to do since we got to Tucson. Wasson Peak is the tallest mountain in the Saguaro National Park’s west side. It was supposed to have some great views, but no shade. So the cooler temps would make this a much more comfortable hike for us. The Wasson Peak hike starts from several trailheads as there are several ways up. Any of the ways up involved hiking up about 1800′ to get to the top. From the top, you are rewarded with 360 degree views. You get a great view of the sprawl of Tucson, along with the Santa Catalina Mountains.
We started from the King Canyon trailhead on the south part of the park. I thought this would be less busy then the main trailhead near the main part of the park. It seems many others thought this would be a good idea too. The parking lot was packed. Even with the full lot we didn’t see too many people until we got to the peak. The views from the top were awesome and in spite of climbing almost 2000′, it was a fairly easy hike. Instead of doing an out and back the way we came, we looped around and took the Gould Mine trail back down.
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