The Rincon Mountains ( O'odham: Cew Doʼag) are a significant mountain range east of

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

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 ...

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 ...

, in the United States. The Rincon Mountains are one of five mountain ranges surrounding the

valley. The other ranges include the most prominent, 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 ...

to the north, the

Santa Rita Mountains The Santa Rita Mountains ( O'odham: To:wa Kuswo Doʼag), located about southeast of Tucson, Arizona, extend from north to south, then trending southeast. They merge again southeastwards into the Patagonia Mountains, trending northwest by sout ...

to the south, the

Tucson Mountains The Tucson Mountains ( O'odham: ) are a minor mountain range west of Tucson, Arizona, United States. The Tucson Mountains, including Wasson Peak, are one of four notable mountain ranges surrounding the Tucson Basin. The Santa Catalina Mountai ...

to the west, and the

Tortolita Mountains The Tortolita Mountains are a modest mountain range northwest of Tucson, Arizona, USA, at the northern boundaries of Oro Valley and Marana, two suburbs of Tucson. Peak elevation is 4,696 feet (1,431 m). Much of the mountain range is protected ...

to the northwest. Redington Pass separates the Rincon Mountains from the Santa Catalina Mountains. The Rincon Mountains are generally less rugged than the Santa Catalina Mountains and Santa Rita Mountains. The Rincon Mountains are also included in the Madrean sky island mountain ranges of southeast Arizona, extreme southwest

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and northern

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

Mexico. ''Rincón'' is

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

for ''corner'', denoting the primary shape of the mountain range. Mica Mountain (8,664 feet), the high-point of the Rincons forms the apex, with Rincon Peak (8,482 feet) forming the southern point, and Tanque Verde Peak (7,049 feet) forming the western point of the corner. The interior of the corner is Rincon Valley (south and west of Mica Mountain), primarily former

ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

land currently being converted to

tract housing Tract housing, sometimes informally known as cookie cutter housing, is a type of housing development in which multiple similar houses are built on a tract (area) of land that is subdivided into smaller lots. Tract housing developments are found ...

. Colossal Cave county park, a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

and popular destination, is located on the east end of the Rincon Valley, north of the community of

Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the nume ...

. East of the Rincons are the Little Rincon Mountains. Between these two ranges is Happy Valley, a popular destination for locals for

camping Camping is a form of outdoor recreation or outdoor education involving overnight stays with a basic temporary shelter such as a tent. Camping can also include a recreational vehicle, sheltered cabins, a permanent tent, a shelter such as a Bivy bag ...

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, and

off-roading Off-roading is the act of driving or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, dirt, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, or other natural terrain. Off-roading ranges from casual drives with regular vehicles to competitive events w ...

. Farther east is the San Pedro River of the San Pedro Valley, a

holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

paleontology region. South of the Rincon Mountains, beyond Rincon Valley is the Cienega Creek and

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...

. Most of the Rincon Mountains are within

Saguaro National Park Saguaro National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in southeastern Arizona. The park consists of two separate areas—the Tucson Mountain District (TMD), about west of Tucson, Arizona, T ...

, or in the Rincon Mountain Wilderness, , of 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 ...

Trails

The majority of the range is off-limits to motorized & bicycle travel. The mountains can be accessed on foot or horseback by the following routes: *East Side **Turkey Creek Trail **Miller Creek Trail *North Side **Italian Ranch (Italian Springs) Trail **Espiritu Creek Trail (inaccessible - dense overgrowth) *West Side **Douglas Springs Trail **Tanque Verde Ridge Trail *South Side **Madrona/Manning Camp Trail (inaccessible - trailhead located on private land) The Arizona Trail passes through the Rincons, entering from the north by the Italian Spring trail, and southwest by the Quilter Trail

External links

Rincon Wilderness Hikes - hikearizona.comSierra club trail guideRincon Institute - conservation
{{Authority control Madrean Sky Islands mountain ranges Mountain ranges of Arizona Mountain ranges of Pima County, Arizona Protected areas of Pima County, Arizona Wilderness areas of Arizona Coronado National Forest

Trails

See also

Further reading

External links