Mt. Lemmon – Tucson, Arizona

April 23, 2020

Mount Lemmon

One of the side trips we made while in isolation during the pandemic was an excursion to Mount Lemmon near Tucson. This mountain is over 9,000 feet high. Mount Lemmon is named after a woman botanist, Sara Plummer Lemmon, who made it to the top by horse and by foot in 1881.

At the top is Mount Lemmon Observatory which was formerly the site of a USAF radar base of the Air Defense Command. All the military buildings were abandoned and given to the US Forest Service. Summerhaven is a small town at the top with many private residences and cabins. All restaurants and facilities were closed due to the pandemic.

We drove the Catalina Highway or Mount Lemmon Highway as far as Summerhaven. We saw many cyclists along the way. The desert saguaros and other cacti eventually gave way to scrub pines then tall pines at the summit. The temperature change was dramatic–from very warm to cool and breezy. We ate a sack lunch at the top and enjoyed the view and the cool breeze. It’s easy to see why locals like to visit the mountain to escape the summer heat.