Longer hikes into the "high country" of the Rincon Mountains are also possible. For these, you may want to refer to this map of the entire Saguaro National Park (from the park website), also stashed here for your convenience.
Although it is certainly possible to visit the high country via long day hikes, visits to this area are generally best done via overnight backpack trips. Oddly enough, backcountry camping is restricted to 6 definite locations, and you will want to read the wilderness guide (also from the park website). You probably should check the official website for a copy in case they make changes to the regulations.
At this time (2010) the six spots where camping is allowed (for a fee of $6.00 per night, a backcounry camping permit is required) are as follows:
All are near a potential water source, which depending on weather and time of year
may or may not be a viable source of water.
You can call the visitor center at (520) 733-5153 to find out what they know about
the current status of water sources.
The Douglas Spring Trailhead (east Speedway) is at approximately 2700 feet elevation. Douglas Spring is at 4800 feet, 6 miles and 2100 feet of climbing. This makes a vigorous day hike for any time other than summer. The park service brochures call this hike "strenuous", yet indicate that you can do the 12 mile loop in 5 hours, which is probably true for someone in very good shape.
From the trailhead take the trail to the east (actually an old road) for 2.3 miles of fairly uninteresting hiking to the Quilter Trail. At this point you have joined the AZT. 5.5 miles from here you will reach the old trail to Manning Camp. This trail begins at the old Madrona ranger station, which you cannot get to as it is behind private land in what is called the X-9 Ranch development. Another 2.9 miles will bring you to the Grass Shack area where you can camp if you have a permit. This is 10.7 miles all told from the trailhead. Water may (or may not) be available here.
You can continue another 5 miles to Manning camp and the summit area of Mica Mountain. Provided you don't mind 3000 feet of uphill hiking to boot. On 11-27-2020 I hiked this area with a 28 pound pack and found temperatures at Grass Shack fell to just below 29 degrees on a rather warm November day.
The out-of-service Madrona Ranger Station in Mica Mountain's southeastern foothills is the site of a series of majestic pools and the former trail head for remote trails which now simply come together there. It is also the flash point of contention over access issues in the Tucson valley that still rage today between developers and conservationists.Madrona was commissioned and developed in the 1940-60's in the image of Sabino Canyon to be a destination for picnicking and a trail head site for Saguaro National Park, primarily due to its proximity to the perennial pools in Chiminea canyon to the west. The Rincon Creek and Manning Camp trails traditionally departed here; both of which are now relatively difficult to access. The trail that left here was once the most direct route into Manning Camp. Until 1968, the NPS continued to improve the area, adding stables and other comforts for users. Monthly narratives from the Superintendent of the Park always included visitation, temperature, and usage data for Madrona during this time period signaling that Madrona was key element of the Park. The Park Service also used the area to stable horses to supply Manning and supplies for fire suppression.
Madrona was situated at the north end of the once X-9 ranching operation, now defunct. The X-9 was purchased by Henry Jackson in 1955 and he and his hands ran cattle on large tracts of Park and Forest Service lands in the area. Through some type of complication during boundary allotment, the easement that allowed access to Madrona was never guaranteed to the Park Service (Though Jackson allowed unfettered access through his ranch property to the station.) This access continued until 1965 when the ranch installed a locked gate during mule deer hunting season after hunters were blamed for shooting ranch cattle the previous year. Conflicts between the X-9 and hunters escalated until 1967 when two hunters were caught on X-9 property; this shortly after Madrona visitors had left the X-9 cattle loading chute open in a misguided attempt to free the cattle from slaughter which only resulted in the ranch hands wasting a day rounding the cattle back up to go to market. The final blow came when visitors to the Madrona area drove past the X-9 ranch house and, purportedly, fired pot-shots at Jackson's daughter. A barbed-wire fence and permanent gate were installed across the easement and locked on June 15th, 1967.
Subsequently, Park officials were supplied with keys, and, in the years that followed, the Park began negotiations to purchase the easement into Madrona from Colossal Cave road. These negotiations never gained traction and the area remained cosed to public access, reportedly due to a covert deal between Jackson and a Park Superintendent to prevent access from ever being reattained. The situation was complicated further in the 1980s when a development group purchased the X-9 ranch and subdivided it into 36 private parcels for luxury homes. Due to access restrictions, the Ranger Station was manned only sporadically, and the area fell into disrepair, ultimately succumbing to a mouse infestation and outbreak of Hantavirus. The NPS effectively closed the Ranger Station after the outbreak.
Homeowners in the X-9 Ranch area are obstinate about not ever providing access to Madrona, despite their acknowledged personal use of the area and increased pressure from groups like the Arizona Trail Association who want access restored for public use. A survey undertaken by researchers at the University of Arizona found that 80% of local residents and 70% of non-residents felt strongly that access to Madrona should be restored.
Tom's hiking pages / tom@mmto.org