Coronado National Forest - Mt. Lemmon - Butterfly Trail

Last week I spent several days on Mt. Lemmon in the Coronado National Forest near Tucson, AZ camping and hiking. This will begin a series of several new hikes not yet posted in this blog, all from that trip. My first day there I hiked the Butterfly Trail, which I have done before but never recorded in my blog. I setup camp on Mt. Bigelow near the radio towers. You can camp (primitive style) where you like along that forest road and during the week it should not be too hard to find a spot. (You can use the toilets and get water near the Palisades Visitor center where the Mt. Bigelow trail begins.) I then hiked the forest road away from the radio towers towards Catalina highway. If you take it the whole way the road will intersect Catalina highway at Bear Wallow. I then hiked about 1/3 mile on the highway to the Butterfly trail head. (By doing it this way, I am hiking the trail back to my campsite.) The total mileage of the trail plus the roads should be nearly 9 miles. The trail, like many on the mountain, has major up and downhill sections on it, so be prepared. This was a wonderful hike filled with wildlife encounters including butterflies, hummingbirds, deer, a rattlesnake, and a bear. (The bear and deer ran off too quickly for pictures - they didn't stick around like the snake and butterflies.) The landscape is also exquisite on this hike with its pine forests, hillsides of berries, a waterfall (seasonal), and panoramic overlooks. There are still some areas the fires have burned but it is small compared to other hikes. This is a quiet, peaceful place where wildflowers abound, gentle breezes blow and the sounds of the forest can be heard. On my weekday
hikes I've rarely encountered other hikers on this trek through the woods which is no doubt why I saw so many animals. This hike may be better a little earlier in the month, as I really hoped to have seen a lot more butterflies than I did. It seems around July was a good time for this trail if you want to see a plethora of flowers. There are also several nice spots on this trail to watch the sunrise and one I found is only a little ways down Mt. Bigelow, so I could just stumble out of my tent at 5am and down the trail to watch it and then go back to bed!












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