December 1, 2019

Tortolita Mountain Preserve

Drive I-10 northwest out of Tucson to Twin Peaks road. Exit right (to the north) and keep driving most of the way to Dove Mountain resort. Keep your eyes open for Moore Road. This is just before the road (which has now become "Dove Mountain Blvd.") swings to the right. Drive to a gate where the road turns to dirt.

The gate is not locked. When I visited I passed through the gate and parked inside (where there is a lot more room to park). Entry to the trail is a short distance on the right.

The big loop is 9.2 miles. Most of it is beginner level riding on virtually level desert wandering along a curving trail through a cactus forest. There is some intermediate (blue) riding in the "back 40", i.e. about 4 miles in, no matter which way you ride. These difficulties are short and can easily be walked with little or no impact on your total time riding, if that is any kind of issue.

I rode the entire loop in about 4 hours on my fat tire bike. There is a fair bit of sand in spots, but with fat tires, you hardly notice, or in fact relish it.

There is a short cut that allows you to make a short "lollipop" loop out of the east side if you aren't in the mood for the entire ride. This also avoids the harder section making the whole thing very easy.