Trail Description for Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains

This is a well marked, well traveled, 3.1 mile linear trail in the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Rita Mountains.  It takes about 2 hours of actual hiking time to cover the 3.1 miles.  The trail offers wonderful views of an oak/pine filled valley as well as Mount Wrightson (Old Baldy).  One also gets views of Green Valley and the mine west of Green Valley.  The hike offers some very good birding opportunities. There is good signage associated with this hike. The footing on the trail varies from pavement to hard packed sand to rough and rocky. There are some moderate grades both ascending and descending. In general, the trail follows the streambed down from the upper parking lot near the Roundup Picnic Ground to the lower parking lot (Proctor Parking and Trailhead).  An easy way to hike the trail is to leave one vehicle at the Proctor Parking Lot (lower parking lot) and to drive a second vehicle with passengers up to the upper parking lot near the Roundup Picnic Ground. Everyone hikes downhill from the upper to the lower parking lot and then a couple people drive up to retrieve the vehicle at the upper lot when done hiking.  The amphitheatre is about the half way point of the hike and it is a good place to have a lunch break.  There are often lots of birds at this site.

For a more rigorous hike, one leaves the vehicle at the upper parking lot and then hikes uphill. This way, there is good altitude gain and better aerobic exercise.

Pit toilets are available at both the Proctor trailhead and the upper trailhead and at the some of the picnic grounds along the trail.

There is almost always some water in the streambed and there are good birding opportunities in Madera Canyon.

There are also several other loop hikes available in Madera Canyon. These tend to be more rigorous due to the elevation gains.

Bring your National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass for free parking. Without the pass, parking is $5.