Tucson Mountain Park / Antelope Peak

Brown Mountain Loop Trail | Tucson Mountain Park | Hiking Antelope Peak | Arizona Trail | December 2023

Besides spending lots of time with friends around Tucson, we wanted to take some of our time in Arizona to visit more places we had never been, and spend time away from the city. As much as we love our first home, it’s getting harder to go back as it’s gotten bigger and busier than what we’re comfortable with. And so we came up with a little week long trip to visit places we hadn’t been, and revisit some places that interested us, all with the goal of staying in the warmer areas and away from Phoenix. After spending one last Saturday with friends, we made our way back to the West side of Tucson, and followed old roads into Tucson Mountain Park. We were planning to visit Gen that evening, but had a bit of time to kill, so we found our way to the Brown Mountain Picnic Area. We found a spot for the van with plenty of sun, and a comfortable place to sit and relax. After settling in and making sure Jess and Charlotte were comfortable, I set out on the trail around and over the mountain.

I spent the first part of the trail following a letterboxing series from another one of our friends from back in the day, and then started heading over the mountain. The trail was well established and easy to follow and soon enough I made the peak. The mountain, rather than being named for the color, is named for the founding father of Tucson Mountain Park. And while it lacks considerable prominence, it does offer pretty good views. Rather than return the way I came from, I went down the far side before looping back on a much lower trail.

Back with Jess and Charlotte, we enjoyed a lunch and the warmth of the sun while doing some work and reading. We ended up staying all the way until sunset before heading back into to town. We spent the evening at Gen’s, enjoying a night of pasta and games with her and her boyfriend, and a tragic bobcat v. chickens showdown in the backyard.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes before heading North out of town. We grabbed groceries as well as our token In-N-Out in Oro Valley before continuing further up AZ-77 into Pinal County and Dudleyville. Here we left the highway onto a cross-country dirt road that connected all the way to near Florence. Somewhat surprisingly, the road was very well maintained and easy to drive and we followed it all the way to the Arizona Trail.

This section of the Arizona Trail is not the most scenic, at least compared to many other sections. In fact, the only thing we know of this section of the AZT is of the infamous ‘Taste of Death Water’ from Green Tortuga’s thru hike. We pulled into the trailhead parking lot, which was quite large and quite empty. We claimed ourselves a corner of the lot and set up the van.

Again, after ensuring Jess and Charlotte were comfortable, I set off on a lone hike to the only nearby peak: Antelope Peak. I followed the Arizona Trail South along rough roads until I was at the base of Antelope. From here, I followed my gut and some previous trail reports and headed cross-country to a gully which I followed up to just below the peak. The going was steep, but the brush wasn’t ever to thick, which can be a difficulty in the desert. Near the crest of the ridge, I found a use trail contouring over to one of the two saddles which I gladly followed before scrambling the last 100 feet to the top.

While not meeting my personal prominence goals, the peak was fairly isolated and I had great views in all directions. While I can’t name all the ranges and mountains, it’s always fun to orient with the ones I can. I signed the summit register, took a rest, unsuccessfully tried to get Jess to look for me, and then headed back down. Rather than follow the gully down the way I came up, I decided to follow the use trail as far as it would go. This ended up being an ok decision, though I’m not sure if I could have followed it up in the first place, as I lost it several times on some of the steeper slopes. But once back on the road and the official AZT it was smooth sailing and I soon reunited with Jess and Charlie.

We spent the rest of the evening enjoying dinner and a beautiful sunset, and admiring the surrounding mountains. Only a few trucks passed by in the evening; otherwise we were seemingly all alone out here.