By 2018, they had themselves one massive network of trails connecting 30 public parks, hotels, attractions like the Pima Air and Space Museum (some exhibits live outside), retail, restaurants, BMX tracks, sports fields, farmer’s markets, suburbs, and Saguaro National Park.
What now seems like a masterfully planned 131-mile tour de Tucson open to all people-powered forms of transportation was actually born out of disaster. In 1983, heavy seasonal rains caused calamitous flooding in three typically dry riverbeds. Along the Rillito, Pantano, and Santa Cruz rivers, dirt walls were shored up and maintenance roads were built. Eventually, they opened to recreational use. The city continued to add concrete conduits, bridges, and underpasses. By 2018, they had themselves one massive network of trails connecting 30 public parks, hotels, attractions like the Pima Air and Space Museum (some exhibits live outside), retail, restaurants, BMX tracks, sports fields, farmer’s markets, suburbs, and Saguaro National Park. The east section is urban; the west decorated with art; the north greener and hillier with views of the Catalina range. But the south is what you come for as it’s chock full of cacti, javelinas, and other Sonoran desert delights.