Region
Most climbed route
Highlights
- Mount Lemmon is in the Santa Catalina Mountains located in the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Arizona.
- At the peak of Mount Lemmon is an astronomical observatory.
- Unfortunately for hikers, the Catalina Highway, also called the Mount Lemmon Highway, runs up the Santa Catalina Mountains from the east side of Tucson up to the summit.
- A dirt access road to the summit on the "back side" of Mount Lemmon offers a secondary route to the top.
Routes
/-110.788528746344,32.4425929562,11,0.00,0.00/320x240@2x?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoicGVha2VyeSIsImEiOiJjampra3Z0bnAxeTVnM3FteHlybHY3b2p1In0.7a5dEa5-995VUv8ceHHNmw)
1 summit • 1.6 mi • 89 ft gain • 53 min
Latest summits
"My brother and I started at Catalina State Park, and used the Romero Canyon trail and the Mount Lemmon Trail #5 to complete the marathon hike of Mt. Lemmon. It ended up being 26.3 miles with 7900 feet of elevation gain. There were several downhill spots on the way up, and all the extra elevation added up. The scenery was beautiful, despite the fire damage, and even though the summit area is fenced off, I asked someone up there if it was ok to get to the true highpoint, and permission was granted to hop the fence and do that. I didn't take the time to find the benchmark, or stay there too long just in case someone else said something, but it was nice to get that far. We returned the same way, completing the longest hike my brother has ever done in a day." — ZachTeich • May 28, 2022

"Last leg of the summit on Aspen Trail #93, just past the saddle, is in rough shape. Fire damage and fallen rock took out chunks of the switchback trail but getting to the top is still manageable. Started at Marshall Gulch Trail #3 and grabbed Aspen Trail #93 to the top and back down. Beautiful views of the Santa Catalinas!" — danaepresler • May 2, 2021

"Forest fire has severely limited access to the summit. We were also strictly limited to moving around the summit. Best views were unfortunately in the areas we could not go. " — mchikes • Sep 5, 2020

"With snow on the ground above 5500 feet, I arrived at the parking lot of Ski Valley around 2:00 pm. The 1.7 mile road hike up to the observatory went by quickly and I arrived at the gated area around the telescopes around 2:25 pm. Not paying attention on the way up to the telescopes I walked right by the summit trailhead near the last parking area at the gate. So after backtracking a short distance from the telescopes and not seeing an obvious trail I ended up just going cross country across from the parking lot. In spite of the snow it appeared there was a vague trail heading off here towards the summit. I did attempt to follow it but it was lost once out from under the tree cover. So from here I just bee lined it as best I could towards the summit in the ankle to calf deep snow. A couple other hikers were also trying to get to the summit so I ended up following their tracks for some distance until I caught up with them just before the summit. The snow hike in from the paved road/upper parking lot was a very short 0.2 mile hike and I made the summit around 2:45 pm. Grabbed a few requisite photos while enjoying the views to the west and north and back down I went." — LZ • Dec 20, 2015

"During a stay with my parents' in Tucson, we took a drive up the Mt. Lemmon Highway. We got to a viewpoint parking area at the Ski area / Iron Door Rest. (closed) which is 8350' up. Even though the gate leading up to the summit was open, my dad, who was in his upper 80s, didn't want to push his luck. Understandable. So we just enjoyed the views there in the comfortable 50s for a while before driving back." — SteveM_StickMan • Apr 30, 2015

"Arrived in Tuscon, today from Salt Lake International Airport to visit a friend of mine and help him out with different projects. Later in the afternoon we drove up Catalina Highway/General Hitchcock Highway/ Mt. Lemmon Highway all the way, as far as we could, to the summit. Beautiful scenery and area. I can't believe the damage that still exists from the Aspen Fire of 2003! " — CamminatoreAFK • May 13, 2012

"A huge storm hit overnight dusting everything down to around 4,000ft! My original plan of driving to the summit, then doing a reverse summit hike down to Wilderness Rocks and back was too difficult with ~3inches of fresh snow and no snow shoes, so I parked at the ski lodged and trudged up the unplowed road the rest of the way." — Christopher • Nov 5, 2011

"Made this summit multiple times, first time was many years ago. Took the Phone Line trail from Sabino Canyon parking lot all the way up with my friend Steve. Wives met us at the tops with our bikes and we biked all the way down. Pics are from multiple trips." — bsargus • Nov 18, 1998