Published Mar 18, 2024 ~ Tasha Zemke for Outsideonline.com

Why Now: Saguaro National Park was recently certified as one of nine Urban Night Sky Places around the world, and Kitt Peak National Observatory recently reopened with a revamped overnight observation program. The region’s already awesome trail system has expanded, letting hikers into a previously private, geologically rich slice of the Chihuahuan Desert.

Adventure Intel: The first time I visited Tucson, my rental car sat unused. The city’s 137-mile Chuck Huckelberry Loop makes it possible to bike the entire metro area, and satellite lanes extend to more than 40 parks. There are also hundreds of miles of singletrack. Rent wheels from Transit Cycles and saddle up at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort to explore the Starr Pass Trail System’s mix of smooth and technical terrain. Hiking options are equally endless and now include an eight-mile network in a boulder-strewn section of Texas Canyon Nature Preserve, an hour’s drive east of the city. The Colossal Vail 50/50 ultra race, held on the Arizona Trail between Saguaro National Park and the Santa Rita Mountains, was put on runners’ radars by the Native-produced documentary Run to Be Visible; in 2023, the race hosted a record number of Indigenous participants, and it will celebrate its tenth anniversary this year.