Meandering along the Rattlesnake Trail

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Meandering along the Rattlesnake Trail

It winds through splendid scenery in Sabino Canyon

By Doug Kreutz

Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.05.2009

Many hiking routes in the Tucson area have names that make you want to head right out there: Sunset Trail, Sweetwater Trail, Butterfly Trail.

Then there's the other side of the coin: the Rattlesnake Trail.

The short path, part of a loop route in Sabino Canyon, doesn't exactly have an enticing name.

But here's the thing: The trail winds through a slice of splendid canyon scenery — and even if the area has a fair number of rattlers, snakes tend to be less active in this cooler season than in warmer months.

"Never seen a rattlesnake"

Jill Fern, who hiked the trail recently with her husband, Ed, chooses to believe that the name has nothing to do with venomous vipers.

"I convinced myself that it's called 'rattlesnake' because of the way it meanders through the canyon" — creating a snakelike path, Fern said.

"And actually," she added, "we've never seen a rattlesnake out here. We've seen them in our neighborhood, but not here."

Get to Sabino Canyon

Take Tanque Verde Road to Sabino Canyon Road and follow it north to the canyon entrance at 5700 N. Sabino Canyon Road.

The U.S. Forest Service charges a $5 parking fee in the canyon.

Trek the trail

For one approach to the trail, start at the southeastern end of the parking lot and walk east about 0.1 of a mile on a broad path to a signed junction with the Esperero Trail.

Follow the Esperero Trail a half-mile to a point where it crosses the main canyon road and then continue another half mile to a signed junction with the Rattlesnake Trail.

The Rattlesnake Trail descends into — yep — Rattlesnake Canyon and meanders, quite snakelike, along a usually dry watercourse for 0.6 of a mile to a junction with the main canyon road.

Some hikers follow the road back to the parking lot — making for a loop of a little less than three miles.

For a longer walk, some hikers cross the road at the end of the Rattlesnake Trail and pick up the Phoneline Link Trail. It leads to the Phoneline Trail and connecting routes that take hikers back to the starting point. source