South Mountain Park is the largest municipal park in the country. The park has several moderate to difficult trails and one very difficult trail. There are a few easy interpretive trails too. Today my husband, his friend, and I decided to hike at South Mountain Park. We selected a route that is part of the National Trail, the longest trail in the park. The entire National Trail is 14 miles long but our route was 4.5 miles. This is considered a moderate to difficult trail. Our route (the purple line on the map) started at Buena Vista Lookout.
We headed west to Fat Man's Pass (also known as "The Tiki Bar" I will explain later), which is where two large boulders come together along the trail leaving a small gap for hikers to pass through. It is a tight squeeze but do-able if you take off your pack and wiggle your way through. I am claustrophobic so I chose to go around. My husband and his friend walked through with no problems. Unfortunantely I forgot to take pictures of Fat Man's Pass. Then we walked around to the Natural Tunnel. On the way we slid down several slick rocks. It was fun but a little scary. The Natural Tunnel was neat. It was nice and cool inside and easy to walk through without feeling claustrophobic.
After completing the loop we traced back our steps East on the National Trail. On the way back several hikers heading West asked us how far to Fat Man's Pass (apparently a popular attraction at the park). Since I had on my Garmin Forerunner I could tell them exactly how far. One particular hiker, who was almost out of breath as he walked by us, asked how far to the "Tiki Bar". I don't recall seeing a Tiki Bar along the trail, although it would have been nice, so I think he was referring to Fat Man's Pass too. It was a great day for hiking one of my favorite trails in Arizona. If you do this route I recommend going early because parking is sparce.
South Mountain Park is the largest municipal park in the country. The park has several moderate to difficult trails and one very difficult trail. There are a few easy interpretive trails too. Today my husband, his friend, and I decided to hike at South Mountain Park. We selected a route that is part of the National Trail, the longest trail in the park. The entire National Trail is 14 miles long but our route was 4.5 miles. This is considered a moderate to difficult trail. Our route (the purple line on the map) started at Buena Vista Lookout.
We headed west to Fat Man's Pass (also known as "The Tiki Bar" I will explain later), which is where two large boulders come together along the trail leaving a small gap for hikers to pass through. It is a tight squeeze but do-able if you take off your pack and wiggle your way through. I am claustrophobic so I chose to go around. My husband and his friend walked through with no problems. Unfortunantely I forgot to take pictures of Fat Man's Pass. Then we walked around to the Natural Tunnel. On the way we slid down several slick rocks. It was fun but a little scary. The Natural Tunnel was neat. It was nice and cool inside and easy to walk through without feeling claustrophobic.
After completing the loop we traced back our steps East on the National Trail. On the way back several hikers heading West asked us how far to Fat Man's Pass (apparently a popular attraction at the park). Since I had on my Garmin Forerunner I could tell them exactly how far. One particular hiker, who was almost out of breath as he walked by us, asked how far to the "Tiki Bar". I don't recall seeing a Tiki Bar along the trail, although it would have been nice, so I think he was referring to Fat Man's Pass too. It was a great day for hiking one of my favorite trails in Arizona. If you do this route I recommend going early because parking is sparce.
