Mount Wrightson Picnic Area and Trailhead

Mount Wrightson Picnic Area is located at the end of Madera Canyon Road, as far into this area of beautiful scenery and plentiful wildlife as you can drive. Tables and fire grills are scattered in the shade of a stand of silverleaf and Arizona white oaks. Views stretch up Mount Wrightson to the top of the Santa Ritas and down Madera Canyon to the Santa Cruz Valley and the community of Green Valley. Four of the most popular trails in the Santa Ritas start right at the Mount Wrightson Picnic Area. Two designated National Recreation Trails, Old Baldy National Recreation Trail #372 and the Super Trail #134, both of which lead to the top of Mount Wrightson, begin their mountain climbing journey from the left of the two parking areas. So does the Very Steep/Vault Mine Trail, which lives up to its name by scaling the north slope of Mount Hopkins, another of the Santa Rita’s highest peaks. A lot less taxing but no less interesting is the Madera Nature Trail, which leads from the picnic area down Madera Canyon, providing great views and excellent wildlife watching along the way. There is more notable birding and a good place to relax in a shady streamside setting up-canyon from the picnic area, along the higher reaches of sycamore-lined Madera Creek.

At a Glance