Tours Travel

The Seven Falls Adventure Hike: A Willow Canyon Mountain Slide & Canyoning Exploration

Arizona is an incredibly beautiful and wildly diverse state with topography ranging from low-level desert landscapes to high mountain peaks and mountain ranges of alpine forests. However, more than any other geological feature, Arizona is widely known for its beautiful and remote rocky canyons, deep gorges, waterfalls, and pools that are scattered throughout the state. However, what I find even more surprising is that many of these wild canyons are accessible outside the country via “non-technical” canyon hiking trails that require no ropes and are literally a single day’s drive from Phoenix. or Tucson. For a great late summer to early fall day trip and hike, if you’re up for a more exhilarating challenge and an extraordinary scenic day trip, go on a mountain slide, canyoning adventure to Seven Cataracts and explore Willow Canyon, Tucson, Arizona.

It was the Labor Day holiday and early Sunday morning I left Phoenix around 6 a.m., left the city on I-10 East, and arrived in Tucson at 7:30 a.m. At the Ina Road exit, I exited the highway and turned left, heading east 8 miles, and came across the TLC Hiking Group, led and organized by Eric Kinneman, at the Westin La Paloma Resort and arrived at 8 am. Because parking was said to be limited at the trailhead for this hike, we carpool together and set up for the day’s hike and trip east on Sunrise Blvd. at 8:25 am.

The beautiful drive up Sunrise Blvd through the northern stretches of Tucson and through the rolling hills of the beautiful Santa Catalina Mountains has always been one of my favorites. The Santa Catalina Mountains are the tallest mountain range in Tucson, reaching 9,157 feet high at its peak, Mount Lemmon. To get there and get to the trailhead for our hike, we zigzagged through Tucson, driving east on Sunrise Blvd to Swan Road, we turned right (south), to River Road, we turned left ( east), then right onto Sabino Canyon Road, left onto Tanque Verde Road and head east on Tanque Verde Road until we reached Catalina Highway, also known as “Mount Lemmon Scenic Byway”, and then we turned onto the left again.

After turning left onto the Catalina Highway, approximately 4 miles after entering the Coronado National Forest and beginning the winding ascent into the rugged Santa Catalina Mountains. Although it has been a long time since I was last there, I was still in awe of how beautiful and beautiful this trip really is. Immediately as you go in elevation starting at 3000 feet, the views are absolutely breathtaking with every hairpin turn and bend offering an amazing new rock formation or a beautiful view of the canyon in the distance. If you like to stop and take lots of photos, as I always like to do, you have plenty of opportunities to do so because this tour offers a number of viewpoints to enjoy along the way. However, at about the 5 mile marker, just past the Molino Canyon lookout, there is a pay station where you must purchase a $ 5 Coronado National Forest Day Use Recreation Pass if you plan to stop anywhere else along the way. along the way. We purchased the daily use passes, one per vehicle, and traveled three more miles to reach Seven Cataracts Vista Point, just past Thimble Peak Vista and at about the 8 mile marker and about 1/3 of the way to Mount Limon

We stopped at Seven Cataracts Vista point, and our trailhead, parked and started our day’s hiking and canyoning adventure at 9am. The view looking down into Willow Canyon was absolutely beautiful, but also incredibly steep! Right off the bat, the drop in Willow Canyon on this “day use” trail was intense, to say the least. Estimated to be roughly a 1000-1300 ft descent down with a 60% incline across all loose dirt, gravel, and rocks, each of us had to literally fall to the ground on our “butts” and from section to section , slide it down for a total of ¼ mile until we have reached the bottom. What a site it was to see too, really exciting and a lot of fun! However, this “unofficial” trail, used primarily by experienced gunboys, is rated very difficult, some even say it is treacherous or dangerous, so I would not recommend doing this hike on your own unless you are an experienced hiker in the canyon or have an experience. canyon hiking guide with you.

Once we all safely slid down and reached the bottom and after a quick group photo, Eric began leading our group on our canyoning exploration further down Willow Canyon, climbing, jumping rocks and climbing class 3 a through waterfalls of partially running water. Really beautiful and spectacular scenery all the way to the end too! We continued for about ¼ mile where we had reached some really nice waterfalls and enjoyed the opportunity to refresh, rest and enjoy the tranquility and beauty of this remote and less known wild canyon. Meanwhile, Eric, along with several other adventurous members, traveled another 1/3 to ¼ mile, and after more exhilarating, rock jumping and class 3-4 climbs, they reached a beautiful 100 foot waterfall and a swimming hole deep enough said that even with a jump off a 10 foot cliff, they couldn’t hit bottom! Amazing!

After about an hour of rest, we decided it was time to start making our way back. Now was the time for the most challenging part of our canyoning adventure: getting back! So we started our hike back through Willow Canyon the same way we came, climbing, jumping rocks, wading through the pools, and then climbing back through the waterfall. However, it only took a little time and within minutes we had all returned safely to the base of the hillside that we had originally “slipped” down earlier. It was here that we met Eric again and then we split into two groups. You could decide to do the ascent in the same place you came down with the 60% incline on all loose dirt and gravel, where Eric said it was for every 3 steps up, a slip of one or two backwards. Or my friend Dan decided it looked like if I climbed it a little further to the left, I could more easily climb it over the rocks and cliff and up to the top. So I, along with several other members, followed Dan’s lead and, hand over foot, we climbed him slowly and carefully, section by section until we reached him safely to the top. Wow, for me and someone who is afraid of heights and has no experience in rock climbing, it was a challenge, but also a very fun and amazing workout.

Once back at the top and in the Seven Cataracts Vista parking lot, we waited for the final members to return safely, then at 12:15 pm we returned to our cars to drive the rest of the way up to Mount Lemmon for lunch. at the Iron Door Restaurant. The views along the trail became spectacular again as you progress from an elevation of 5,000 feet to the valley of the sky of Mount Lemmon, an elevation of approximately 8,200 feet. Although the signs of the devastating Aspen Fire in 2003 were remarkable, it was still very beautiful and temperatures at this time of day, low in the mid-80s and very cool and refreshing.

However, with the 2.5 hour wait at the restaurant, because it was a weekend and also a holiday, we decided it was better to turn around and go back.

We arrived in Tucson at approximately 2pm and after an excellent lunch at a small restaurant called Renee’s Organic Oven on Tanque Verde Road, we arrived at the Westin La Paloma Resort at 4pm, where those of us who had just spent the day returned. to Phoenix from there to return home again around 6pm.

Overall it was truly an extraordinary canyoning exploration and waterfall hiking adventure with the TLC Hiking Group, carefully researched, well planned and thought out to the last detail by Eric Kinneman himself. It really had it all, incredibly beautiful, exciting, but also very challenging. I think this hike is best summed up in Eric Kinneman’s own words, in which he quotes: “The Seven Falls Waterfall Adventure Hike is an amazing hike that I highly recommend to people. It will test your fears, you it will give an incredible workout and take you through magnificent canyons, and a 30-meter waterfall and a swimming hole, rarely seen by anyone. What more could you ask for! “

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