A Day in Oracle

Oracle, Arizona / November 16, 2013

hiking near peppersauce cave oracle arizona catalina mountains

The weather this fall has been absolutely perfect, so we’ve been taking advantage of it and going on adventures every weekend. This weekend, we planned a day trip up to Oracle, Arizona. Oracle is located on the North side of the Catalina Mountains, about a 50 minute drive from our home in Tucson. We went seeking several letterboxes, but found several attractions near Oracle that were worth visiting on their own.

fall in catalina mountains oracle arizona

Our first stop was to tour the Biosphere II, but I will save that experience for another post. After taking the tour, we drove through Oracle and began taking a dirt road up the North side of the Catalina Mountains. This road is nothing like the Catalina Highway from the South. The Catalina Highway has 2 lanes, is paved, and has many spots along the way to pull off and enjoy the views. The North side is much less maintained. It is a bumpy gravel road with hairpin turns and not much space for 2 vehicles. Thankfully our stop wasn’t too far up the mountain!

hiking near peppersauce cave oracle arizona catalina mountains in the fall

We stopped at the camping and picnic area near Peppersauce Cave. We came here to find a letterbox, and found it quite busy with people enjoying the nearby stream and cave. We have heard about the cave from some friends in Tucson, who told us that unfortunately Peppersauce Cave is filled with graffiti and litter. While it can be fun to wander through a cave without paying for a tour like at Colossal Cave or Kartchner Cavern, it is sad how people treat the areas and makes us glad that those other caves are being protected.

hiking near peppersauce cave oracle arizona catalina mountains in the fall

We followed the clues for the letterbox, and sadly found it in poor condition. The box and logbook were  lying on the ground in the open and the stamp was nowhere to be found. Curtis collected what he could find so that we could return it to its owner. We did enjoy the bright orange leaves on the trees. That’s 3 weekends in a row that we were able to enjoy fall colors despite being in the desert!

hiking near peppersauce cave oracle arizona catalina mountains in the fall

 

driving the catalina highway north side of catalina mountains oracle arizona

Here’s a look at the rough dirt road. Hang on tight!

oracle arizona gardens

Next, we drove into Oracle to find another letterbox. This one was located near the Public Library in these cute public gardens. Curtis searched for the letterbox while I took pictures.

oracle arizona public library gardens

 

oracle arizona public library gardens

 

oracle arizona public library gardens

 

oracle arizona public library gardens

 

oracle arizona public library gardens

 

oracle arizona public library gardens

 

oracle arizona public library gardens

 

oracle arizona public library gardens mosaic lizard

 

oracle arizona public library gardens cactus

 

oracle arizona public library gardens cactus

 

oracle arizona public library gardens bench
And that was our day spent in Oracle, Arizona. I’m sure we’ll be back someday! I remember when we were coming back from our trip to Albuquerque and it was late at night, and Curtis wanted to stop here in the dark to find the letterboxes. I’m so glad we made a day trip out of this instead!

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