The Tucson Trifecta: Graham, Lemmon, Kitt

The three great road-bike climbs in the Tucson area are Mount Graham, Mount Lemmon, and Kitt Peak. This page is about doing all three in a day, on May 24, 2014.

Statistics

I didn’t have a bike computer when I did this so I’m taking the distances and elevations from John Summerson’s book The Complete Guide to Climbing (by Bike).

I also did the rides as described in his book. So the Mount Graham climb went up to the somewhat arbitrary point where the real climbing ends, and Mount Lemmon started at Mile 0 (Mt Lemmon Short Road).

The distances and elevations Summerson gives for the one-way ride to the top are:

Climb	Miles One Way	Feet Climbed
Mount Graham	18.5	5,572
Mount Lemmon	28.5	6,222
Kitt Peak	12.4	3,579

Doubling the distance since you have to ride down, and adding the distances and elevations, the total amount of riding is about 119 miles, and 15,373 feet of climbing. However I suspect the elevation gain is more like 16,000 feet as there are about 600 feet of climbing on the way down from Mount Lemmon.

The distance and feet climbed make the ride somewhat comparable with Colorado’s Triple Bypass (120 miles and 10,990 feet of climbing) and California’s Markleeville Death Ride (129 miles and 15,000 feet of climbing). The difference is that the Tucson Trifecta requires several hours of driving in between climbs which makes the day considerably longer.

I’m not the fastest cyclist and I’m listing my car-to-car times so that readers can compare how long I took on the different climbs with their own time on any of the climbs, and from that extrapolate how long they might take for the whole thing.

Climb	Time (round trip)
Mount Graham	3 hours 35 minutes
Mount Lemmon	4 hours 42 minutes
Kitt Peak	2 hours 10 minutes

The whole day from car-to-car took me exactly 14 hours, to the minute. I started Mt Graham at 3:50 am and got back down from Kitt Peak at 5:50 pm. The weather conditions were pretty much ideal – cool temperatures and quite a bit of cloud cover on Mt Lemmon. The only bad patch was seven miles of rain on Mt Lemmon between miles 8 and 15.

The Climbs

Mount Graham

I drove up to Safford (East on I-10 to exit 352 then head north on Highway 191 to Safford) and stayed at the Days Inn.

I had no idea how long the whole day would take so decided to play it safe and start riding very early. From the main intersection in Safford, where Highways 191 and 70 intersect, drive south on 191 for 7.3 miles to Swift Trail Junction (just south of mile marker 114). Turn right onto Highway 366, which is signed to Mt Graham. Park in the dirt by the side of the road somewhere near the intersection.

Follow the road up, initially in a straight line, but after a few miles you reach the turns and switchbacks. The final few miles before the shoulder are in the trees with many tight switchbacks. After you reach the shoulder (near mile marker 131) the road goes behind the mountain and the road surface improves. There are great views down into the valley below. Eventually, about half a mile past mile marker 132 the road turns slightly right and goes downhill and the main climbing is over. There is a big parking area on the left and a trailhead sign for the Shake Trail. This is where the listed climb finishes (the road rolls along for a few miles more but with no real climbing.) As you ride back down in the early morning you have the sun in your eyes, which makes it difficult to see the road and switchbacks well.

Mount Lemmon

121 miles of driving. Drive south on 191 from Swift Trail Junction to I-10 and follow this west to the Houghton Road exit. Follow Houghton Road north until it intersects the Catalina Highway. Turn right and park at Mile 0. This mile marker seems to have disappeared but it’s where the Mount Lemmon Short Road heads off to the right. You can park in the dirt just before the Short Road, or park in a paved pull-out area just before the first switchback and ride back down to the Short Road to start the climb.

Follow the road for almost 25 miles, including a two mile downhill section. Just as the road descends into Summerhaven turn right up Ski Run Road and follow this for just over 3 miles to the big dirt parking lot on the left by the Sky Center gate, which is usually closed. Turn round and ride back down, with bonus climbs out of Summerhaven and the two mile climb that you previously descended.

Kitt Peak

57 miles of driving. Drive to Highway 86, the Ajo Highway. Follow this west to the turnoff for Kitt Peak. Turn left and park in the large dirt parking area on the right.

From here climb the road as it slashes across the hillside to the right before finally going round the back of the mountain and continuing another 3 miles to the Visitor Center. There is a gate near the bottom of the road that closes at 4 pm but it’s only closed on one side so there is no problem riding up. Ride back down to the car to complete an amazing day.

Notes

Summerson’s second edition book says that Mt Graham is the 20th hardest climb in the country while Mt Lemmon ranks 42. I think that Lemmon is harder, mainly because of its much greater length. Summerson seems to give a greater weight to steepness in his rankings than I would, whereas I would give length a greater weight. In the first edition of the book Kitt Peak ranked number 100, but it has disappeared from the top 100 in the second edition.

Links and Other Clicks

Other rides around Tucson

Other Cycling Pages