Tumamoc Hill — Attraction in Tucson

A desert butte, rendered from rocks and time, as beautiful as it is deadly. Incidentally, it's also the site of the longest sentence I've ever uttered.

I came here with my dad in the heat of the day. A paved trail doubles as a driveway for fixtures atop the hill. The pavement is largely forgotten about by the eyes, its builders having successfully snuck the road into existence. My dad paces the length of the trail like a tightly wound clockwork soldier, daily.

"Dad," I began,"this is clearly a great place for a walk, or 'hike', if you prefer, as usually walking is done on pavement and hiking on rough trail, rocks, and the like, and I know you prefer hiking, but..." Clearly, this was a continuance. I was busy dodging cholla, saguaro, scratchy and flammable creosote bushes, and walkers: I felt a 'but' was allowable.

I had strayed off topic and wanted to bring my sentence back to how I felt about coming here: briefly, Good. At the time, though, I was waxing poetic (and panting uphill at what, I later learned, was a gentle slope).

"... Just like cactus wrens find homes in hollows between cactus thorns, I also enjoy leaving the sharp, spiky pokeys of the world for a simpler shelter, where I can just be and..."

I forgot where I was going and just followed Dad's ceaseless pace. I watched for rattlesnakes, which I was assured were present, hiding from the sun under sharp rocks, cacti, thorns, &c which decorated the landscape. Bats after dark, roadrunners in broad daylight. Some especially brave mule deer, too.

The empty blue sky glared with a blazing, yellow eye. I thought I might burn away. Because I'm not the sort to keep a water bottle with me, I was questioning my life decisions.

"... as surely as maybe I should have brought water, or gatorade, powerade, sports drinks, nothing too sugary as that will just make this worse, but..." This was not the end of my sentence, but my tongue was swelling. Speaking was becoming a lot of work. Hence my pride, you see?

Halfway up the hill we found water! It stands alongside a parking lot, amid some mysterious buildings filled with Tumomac's Clout and the people who wield it. There's a hollowed post there for filling water bottles. Also, bees love it.

They zipped in and out of a puddle, with a small cloud of cousins watching protectively. My tactic was to Stay Casual and get a drink.

"... even though out here, a bad allergic reaction may kill a bigger man than I, ..." See? It's a comma following a supposatory statement. AKA: a pause.

Two dumbells and the guy carrying them up the hill were all looking at me. My dad helped by holding the water button down and looking at me expectantly. Nearly as important as Not Getting Swarmed was Not Chickening Out. The bees got jumpy at the sudden deluge, but soon settled into a routine of appearing only moderately angry, so I stuck my face in that buzzing aperture alongside bees, streaming and splashing water, and wind.

It was the finest drink of my life.

The next half of the trail informed the rest of my sentence.

"... because I find life to be like this hill, which is to say that we thought it was steep before, but now we see the true definition of steep, inclined, perhaps 'elevatory', if I may take such poetic license to make up words impunitously and..." As you can see, dear reader, once I start making up words, it's hard to stop. Please accept these as actual words, as my prating was getting difficult.

Watching my dad was like watching robocop in fast forward from an increasingly distant range. I had to shout my sentence to be heard, further aggravating my breathing problem.

Then we reached the top. The sky opened its eye even wider and blinded me with a view of Eden.

"... which is why it's exciting to come here and climb this hill, nah'mean?"

If not for the gobsmacking magnifence of nature, the view, the works of man spanning the horizon, and the mountains looking back at me, I could be speaking that inane sentence still...

Walked up the paved hiking path before the renovations and it was such a great workout. The view from the top is worth the effort to get there. Parking is a bit challenging as you have to either park on the street or at the hospital but haven't had an issue. There are port-o-pottys halfway up and water fountains and garbage bins which is nice. I saw a deer along the way which was a treat and rare occurrence. Took an hour round trip and I'm an intermediate hiker so best to plan for 2hours for novice or 45min for advanced so you can enjoy the view from the top and get some pictures. There is also a bicycle rental station at the base of the hill where you can drop off at another location, a map of drop off points if there, very convenient. There are restaurants, fast food, fuel stations and grocery stores close by. It's a half mile from Pima College...

Free. Great up hill walk ( about 1.5 miles up and another down obviously) so approximately 3 mil total. It's good views of the city , especially at night but you definitely need a flash light to see the path and others , as well as any critters that may be walking by. The people, for the most part are friendly and keep to themselves. Groups or larger vriwds can be a little more difficult to navigate around but other than that its worth a try. Be cautious as you will have runners going both up and or down hill so try to stick to the flow of traffic ( right side when moving forward). The benches and dirt patches on the side of the road every so often are good resting points to catch your breath or hydrate. Also about mid way up there are port a pottys which are not the best but it's better than nothing 😆! Enjoy a good...