Bear Canyon to Seven Falls: Sabino Canyon Recreation Area – Tucson ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

3/21/2022: If you are a photographer, then this hike is definitely for you. I would think (because I am NOT a photographer) that someone with skills with a camera could get some great shots, especially along Bear Creek and specially at the Seven Falls. There were lots of wildflowers and many bird species, to include Bell’s Vireo, American Pipit, Phainopepla, Black-throated Sparrow and more. I got a good photo of the Phainopepla, which I had never seen before.

• 7.8 miles roundtrip – Family Friendly. 5-year old grandson? At least part way. He is getting stronger, so perhaps all the way with motivation – treats. See Trail Obstacles.
• Difficulty: Moderate
• Elevation range: 2654' to 3388' gross: +939'
• Traffic: Heavy
• Getting There: No issues. You can start the Bear Canyon to Seven Falls hike either at Sabino Canyon Visitor Center and Bookstore, or from Bear Canyon Road. We chose Bear Canyon Road because it made it about a mile shorter. Parking is limited to about 15 to 20 cars. DO NOT PARK in non-designated areas. We saw several cars with tickets on them for parking along the road coming in and in the parking lot along the side of the road.
• Trail Obstacles: Water crossings and climbing down and then back up at the end of Bear Canyon a bit to access the falls. It really isn’t very difficult, but you will want to keep an eye on younger ones and those with balance challenges.
• Fees: Yes: Day Use: $8 per vehicle, Weekly: $10 per vehicle 
• Trailhead Coordinates: 32.30206, -110.80240
• Driving Directions
• Trail Map
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• Photos
• Geo-mapped Photos
• Management: USFS: Sabino Canyon Recreation Area
• Alltrails Info
  • Rod’s Alltrails activity

Marg’s Notes: 62°/38° Seven Falls – Sabino Reserve. Had breakfast at motel again. 😊 This time we went to the Sabino Reserve. We drove thru a neighborhood to get there. Another nice morning. Not too many people. We were not parked at the main Visitor’s Center. The beginning was like walking thru a cactus garden. Seemed as tho the people who were out were locals. A man who was jogging helped direct us. Fairly easy hike at the beginning. A bit of it was on the main road. Quite a bit of the hike was along a creek that we crossed multiple times! Really beautiful. towards the end, it was a bit of a climb. After the cutoff for the falls, we went downhill! Great views down the creek canyon (Bear Creek). Although we got warm hiking, it was cool down at the falls. We had our lunch on the rocks. Rod wanted to climb around. So I followed, heading for a rock to sit on & slipped & fell on the water-smoothed rocks! I was not hurt, but my glasses case was squashed! Saved me! a bit embarrassing. Lots of people there! There were a lot of people heading up as we hiked out. Glad we got an early start. Stopped @ a potty on the way back too! ~4 hours. On the way back we stopped @ the Visitor’s Center. Crowded.

Costco pizza for dinner.

3/22: To Bakersfield. Four Points by Sheraton – used points! Breakfas @ motel. Biscuits & gravy! (Marg’s favorite)

Rod’s Ramblings from the Trail: Starting at 7:50, temperature is 50°, high is expected to be 68. Partly cloudy and really quite beautiful. Trailhead starts at a large cactus area where you can get some very nice pictures right out of the chute. A lot of birds singing. It rained last night and now the sky has cleared up after that rain and it really makes it gorgeous. There's so many pictures I don't know where to start...or actually finish. There are as many saguaros as there were in Saguaro National Park. At the seven falls trailhead there is a bench, a water spicket, and I think this is probably where the shuttle from the Visitor Center stops. Starting early, we have not seen too many people. Most of those that we have seen have been runners down low at the beginning area of the trail along the road and so forth. We saw one guy with a backpack ahead of us but that's it so far. But this is a heavily trafficked trail, so I suspect we will see a lot more people. Locals out for their morning constitutionals walking and running. We hiked for 1.2 mi to get to the Bear Creek trailhead. Bear Creek is full, and the sound of the flowing water is a nice complement to our hike. We are getting passed by other hikers now because we stop and take so many pictures, but that's okay. We heard a Bell’s Vireo and Marguerite saw a reddish bird. Not sure what the red one was. At the final water crossing before you start your incline, which is not bad at all, I got a pretty picture of a yellow flower, a pool behind it, and the mountain behind that. This is a trail where I we could do a bigger loop which would have us come back here some time. But I would come back here anyway, and we haven't even reached the falls yet. We just heard in American Pipet. When you go down into the pools, the trail is in shadow and, at least this time of year, it gets a little chilly. But it is absolutely gorgeous and well worth the hike. It wasn't too crowded at the pools. There were people maybe 10 max at any one time, if that. I hiked up to the second big pool that requires a little bit of effort. I could probably go on up to all of them if I didn't have a girlfriend with me 😊.
A guy we met told us we should hike to Hutch's Pool the next time we come. That is on the big loop I was talking about. There are tons of little white flowers with yellow in the middle. Very pretty. After all the hiking we've done for the last seven hikes, this one is our favorite. I feel like I'm in really good hiking shape now. That's after about 48 mi of hiking on this trip.

More notes:

• A giant guide to Sabino Canyon, Tucson's treasured hiking spot