A gorgeous park for hiking, biking, and horseback riding.

I arrived in Tucson the afternoon before I had a 9 AM jewelry-making class scheduled. The campground I’d booked for the week couldn’t let me in a day early because (if you can believe this) the manager had Sundays off. So I had to find somewhere else to camp. I wound up at one of the overflow campgrounds in Catalina State Park.

I should mention here that I arrived feeling awful. I’d had a headache all day and felt exhausted. (In hindsight, I think it may have been because I’d skipped my blood pressure meds two days in a row.) When they said they had room for me and put me in Site #13 in the Ringtail campground for just $20, I was thrilled. I drove in, backed into my site, climbed into bed, and passed out for three hours.

So it was about an hour before sunset that I actually got a chance to walk around and see the place. I was immediately struck by the lush (in desert terms) saguaro forest filled with huge cacti. I followed a trail from my campsite into the desert and managed to snap a few photos in the warm late afternoon light. I like these best.

The Catalina Mountains are beautiful and rugged.