General Hitchcock Scenic Byway
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The Catalina Highway, officially the General Hitchcock Highway, is the popular name for a
Forest Highway Forest Highways or Forest Routes are a category of roads within United States National Forests. They are built to connect the national forests to the existing state highway systems, and to provide improved access to recreational and logging area ...
and
scenic route A scenic route, tourist road, tourist drive, scenic byway, or holiday road is a specially designated road or waterway that travels through an area of natural or cultural beauty. It often passes by scenic viewpoints. The designation is usually de ...
located in
Pima County Pima County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1 ...
in southern
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
. Also known as the Sky Island Scenic Byway, the Mount Lemmon Highway and Arizona Forest Highway 39, the Catalina Highway is the only paved roadway providing access to the resort village of
Summerhaven Summerhaven is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson in Pima County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a permanent population of ...
as well as various recreational and scientific facilities located near the summit of
Mount Lemmon Mount Lemmon, with a summit elevation of , is the highest point in the Santa Catalina Mountains. It is located in the Coronado National Forest north of Tucson, Arizona, United States. Mount Lemmon was named for botany, botanist Sara Plummer Lemm ...
. Ascending from the desert floor in Tucson to near the summit of Mount Lemmon, the short highway gains over , showcasing a variety of climates ranging from lowland desert to alpine forests. The name
sky island Sky islands are isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau and has extended to similarly isolated high-elevation forests. The isolation has s ...
comes from the analogy of these mountains being like islands of forest in a sea of desert. It is designated as a scenic byway by the National Scenic Byways Program. and an Arizona Scenic Road by the
Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...
.


Route description

The Catalina Highway begins at its intersection with Tanque Verde Road in northeast Tucson, traversing the unincorporated community of Tanque Verde before crossing into the
Coronado National Forest The Coronado National Forest is a United States National Forest that includes an area of about 1.78 million acres (7,200 km2) spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. It is located in parts of ...
. At this point, the roadway officially becomes the General Hitchcock Highway (Arizona Forest Highway 39), although many maps reflect the common usage of "Catalina Highway" to refer to the entire roadway. From the boundary with the National Forest, the highway takes a winding route through the
Santa Catalina Mountains The Santa Catalina Mountains, commonly referred to as the Catalina Mountains or the Catalinas, are north and northeast of Tucson in Arizona, United States, on Tucson's north perimeter. The mountain range is the most prominent in the Tucson area, w ...
by way of
Molino Canyon Molino Canyon is a steep-sided, boulder-strewn canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains northeast of Tucson, Arizona, next to the Molino Basin Campground. The canyon is located within the Coronado National Forest, and encompasses a wide variety o ...
. Due to the rapid gain in elevation there are numerous switchbacks, but the road follows a generally northward direction, passing Willow Canyon, until reaching Forest Road 9 and Rose Canyon Lake, after which it begins traveling in a generally northwestern direction, passing Whitetail and Soldier Camp, to the village of
Summerhaven Summerhaven is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson in Pima County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a permanent population of ...
. The final segment of the road, sometimes signed as Ski Run Road, heads east to the Mount Lemmon Ski Valley and ultimately approaches its final terminus near the summit of Mount Lemmon.


History

Construction on the Catalina Highway began in 1933, owing in large part to the efforts of
Frank Harris Hitchcock Frank Harris Hitchcock (October 5, 1867 – August 5, 1935), was chairman of Republican National Committee from 1908 to 1909. He was then Postmaster General of the United States under President William Howard Taft from 1909 to 1913. Biograp ...
, publisher of the ''
Tucson Citizen The ''Tucson Citizen'' was a daily newspaper in Tucson, Arizona. It was founded by Richard C. McCormick with John Wasson as publisher and editor on October 15, 1870, as the ''Arizona Citizen''. When it ceased printing on May 16, 2009, the dail ...
'' and former
Postmaster General of the United States The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...
. In order to create a route to the popular destinations at the summit of Mount Lemmon, Hitchcock spearheaded the effort to bring together the funds and resources to construct an improved road to Summerhaven and nearby facilities. As a part of the effort, a federal prison camp was established at the foot of the mountains specifically to supply labor for the construction of the highway. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the camp was converted into an
internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
named the Catalina Honor Camp, and the internees were forced to work on construction of the roadway. One of the Japanese American prisoners at the camp,
Gordon Hirabayashi was an American sociologist, best known for his principled resistance to the Japanese American internment during World War II, and the court case which bears his name, ''Hirabayashi v. United States''. Early life Hirabayashi was born in Seattle ...
, was later honored in 1999 when the site of the Honor Camp was converted into the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Area. The highway would not be completed until 1950, 17 years after it began. Upon its completion, the highway was named after Hitchcock, who had died in 1935. The original paved road was narrow, in places had little or no shoulder, featured vertical drop-offs near the road, and was bumpy along most of its length due to years of patchwork repairs. It was long regarded as "one of the most dangerous roads in Pima County." In 1988, the Federal Lands Highway program began a series of seven projects aimed at significantly improving the roadway, with the assistance of the US Forest Service and Pima County. The projects were aimed at improving the quality of the roadway and increasing safety for travelers, while minimizing the impact on the visual aspects and natural beauty of the surrounding mountains. The final project was completed in 2007, at a cost of $15 million, and the road is now much wider and features adequate shoulders, passing areas, and extensive guard rails. The roadway was awarded with the Arizona Engineering Excellence Grand Award for Context Sensitive Design in 2005 for minimizing damage to existing terrain and pinnacles and careful preservation of the delicate environment.


Tourism

The Catalina Highway provides the only paved access to attractions on Mount Lemmon and the Santa Catalina Mountains, and has become a popular destination for tourism in the region. According to the Federal Highway Administration, the Catalina Highway is traveled over by more than one million visitors every year. Among the many recreational opportunities in the Coronado National Forest, through which the highway travels, are numerous
campgrounds Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...
and picnic sites, multi-use trails, and scenic views. The Mount Lemmon Ski Valley, located at the summit of the highway, operates a ski slope during the winter months and remains open during the summer, offering summer "sky rides" on the ski lift. It is billed as the southernmost ski resort in the continental United States. In addition to the numerous recreational activities the highway offers access to, the highway's status as a Scenic Drive is a draw in and of itself. The Forest Service describes the drive as a biological and ecological tour from
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
in only 27 miles. Over the length of the drive, visitors will encounter
saguaro The saguaro ( , ; ''Carnegiea gigantea'') is a tree-like cactus species in the monotypic genus ''Carnegiea'' that can grow to be over tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains ...
cacti,
mesquite Mesquite is a common name for some plants in the genera ''Neltuma'' and '' Strombocarpa'', which contain over 50 species of spiny, deep-rooted leguminous shrubs and small trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. Until 2022, these ge ...
trees, and cholla plants of the
Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...
, pass through stands of
oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
,
juniper Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...
, and
pinyon pine The pinyon or piñon pine group grows in southwestern North America, especially in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah, with the single-leaf pinyon pine just reaching into southern Idaho. The trees yield edible Pine nut, nuts, which are a sta ...
, enter
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
forests and then finally stands of
fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
and
aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...
on the cooler, north-facing slopes at the end of the highway. The scenic vistas afforded along the highway, along with the terrain, make it a common destination for leisure travel and motorcycling. The route is also popular with bicycling enthusiasts, providing a significant challenge of skill. Local
cycling organization A cycling club or cycling organisation is a society for cycling, cyclists. Clubs tend to be mostly local, and can be general or specialised. They can focus on cycle racing and/or cycling as a means of transport (utility cycling). In the United ...
s regularly organize rides consisting of 200 or more riders along the highway to the summit of the mountain. October 2010 saw the inaugural running of the
Mount Lemmon Marathon The Mount Lemmon Marathon were a pair of separate road race marathon events that took place in the Santa Catalina Mountains near the city of Tucson, Arizona, United States. The initial race, which was in the uphill direction, was held between 2010 ...
which saw nearly 800 participants finish the race from near the start of the highway up to Summerhaven.


Major intersections


References


External links


David Leighton, "Street Smarts: General Hitchcock Highway remembers a man whose influence went from D.C. to Tucson and back," ''Arizona Daily Star'', Feb. 25, 2014


* [http://tucson.com/news/local/street-smarts-road-named-for-old-prison-camp/article_a03b77c8-2389-5185-b6d9-b7723d370de3.html David Leighton, "Street Smarts: Road named for old prison camp," ''Arizona Daily Star'', Aug. 19, 2014] {{Japanese American internment camps Santa Catalina Mountains Transportation in Pima County, Arizona Landmarks in Tucson, Arizona Roads in Arizona Scenic highways in Arizona Coronado National Forest 1933 establishments in Arizona