Colossal Cave

February 27, 2025

Last year's ride down Colossal Cave Road with Scott Anderson was such a blast that we made a date to reprise it today. Alas, Scott is on a biking hiatus due to side effects of his medication. We hope this will be a short break and he'll be back on the bike soon. So Barry and I are on our own for the ride, and looking forward to meeting Rachael and Scott for lunch afterwards.

From Saguaro National Park-East we ride southeast on the Old Spanish Trail. On the way down I'm studying a peak in the Rincon Mountains ahead that we've been looking at from all over Tucson.

Today I'm curious enough to stop and figure out what that peak is. According to Google Maps, it's ....drum roll... Rincon Peak! I have a ways to go on learning all the mountain ranges around here; glad to notch one more landmark.

The scene back here by the roadside is dominated by sprawling master planned communities on the old Rocking K Ranch lands. We're in the Rincon Valley, where cattle ranches were built as early as the 1860s after the Gadsden Purchase.

I don't realize it at the time, but just after mile five we roll past the site of the old Rocking K Ranch Stables. Until last year they offered trail rides in the desert. Now the stables and the property have gone the way of the rest of the land, carved into subdivisions. I do see a few short paved trail segments that could turn into something good.

At mile seven, RidewithGPS suggests an alternative path parallel to the road so we take it just to see how it is. The path is pleasant enough - part paved, part gravel and partly discontinuous. It's nice if you really want to get off the road for a bit, but the bike lane on the Old Spanish Trail is really fine and traffic is light.

The alternative path is a nice change of pace from the road for a mile or so, totally optional.

Back on the road, we continue on the easy climb up towards Pistol Hill. Just before turning right on Pistol Hill Road, I turn around for another look back at Rincon Peak.

At the turnoff for Pistol Hill looking across the Old Spanish Trail we're facing Rincon Peak to the northeast. It's a good spot to check the map and see if I ID'd the right peak. Yep, that's the one.

On Pistol Hill Road we ascend for less than a mile, then coast down the hill above the town of Vail, with a wide open look at the Santa Rita Mountains to the south. This ride is turning out to be great for shoring up my grasp of Tucson's geography, and appreciation for it.

After two miles we veer left on Colossal Cave Road where a sign says the road is closed ahead. We know bikes can get through, and so pedal on to the best part of the ride. As we circle around Pistol Hill the road unfurls in a wavy ribbon that's great fun.

From Pistol Hill Road the Vail valley spreads out below us to the south, with the Santa Rita Mountains beyond.

Colossal Cave Road starts to bob up and down under us

I'd be happy to go back and do another lap on Colossal Cave Road. So fun!

After we pass by the driveway up to Colossal Cave we're back on the Old Spanish Trail where there's a delightful surprise. The road has been repaved back to the Pistol Hill Road junction, its velvety new surface ideal for starting the long descent back northwest towards the start. For the next eight miles I'm on the big ring until the final three-mile push uphill to the car at Saguaro National Park.

A resplendent Ocotillo in bloom at Saguaro National Park. No green leaves though; they sure could use some rain.

At the park we run into Rachael who has just finished her hike and is waiting for Scott to pick her up. Barry and I meet up with both of them at Saguaro Corners, just a little way south of the park entrance. I've never been here before. The place is older than I am, opened in 1956 as a service station and cafe with two tables and eight stools at the counter.

During lunch on the patio I hear a bit about the view we missed by passing up the steep driveway up to Colossal Cave – something to add the next time we do this ride. It looks like there are more interesting trails around Vail. Next year I'd like to spend a few days exploring more of this area.

It's great fun as always to spend a little time with the Andersons before they fly back to Portland next week. Regrettably, in our time with them I never think to get a photo. Scott has a funny one in his post for the day.

We need to come back at night when the neon green saguaro lights up

We're back at the park in time to score some of Michelle's clam chowder for dinner later. A caterer at heart, she loves cooking up hearty homemade soups and pasta in her RV to sell at the Rec Hall here. Some weeks she'll fill her big three-gallon cauldrons with two different batches of soup. Tonight there's lasagna in addition to the chowder. Michelle's yummy home cooking is another thing I love about staying here.

Schmaltzy Italian music plays in the background as Michelle serves up tonight's dinner.

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Today's ride: 26 miles (42 km)
Total: 813 miles (1,308 km)

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