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