Cycling stops in Tucson & the Sky Islands

26 places · 5 routes · Arizona, United States

Tucson's reputation rests on one road. The Catalina Highway leaves the eastern edge of town at saguaro height and climbs for about forty kilometres to Ski Valley, gaining the better part of 1,800 metres and passing out of the Sonoran Desert into pine forest on the way, a change of vegetation that would otherwise take a drive to Canada. Riders stack up at Le Buzz at the bottom before the climb and at the Cookie Cabin in Summerhaven after it, which is as close as American road cycling gets to a liturgy.

The rest of the riding fans out from there: Gates Pass and the Saguaro West loop to the desert museum, the long straight run south past the Titan silo to Madera Canyon, Kitt Peak's observatory road out on the Tohono O'odham Nation, and the mission of San Xavier del Bac standing white against the desert on the way home. Two hours east, Mount Graham's Swift Trail climbs 34 km into the Pinaleños, the biggest of the sky islands and the region's longest sustained climb. It stays rideable through the winter, which is why the training camps come.

Cafés

Boca Tacos Y TequilaCaféBOCA Tacos y Tequila is a scratch-kitchen Mexican restaurant on Tucson's Fourth Avenue, run by chef Maria Mazon, a Top Chef alum and James Beard Award semifi…El CharroCaféEl Charro Café is a Mexican restaurant in downtown Tucson, run by the same family since 1922 and billed as the nation's oldest continuously operating Mexican…El Güero CaneloCaféEl Güero Canelo is a Tucson institution for Sonoran hot dogs, started in 1993 by Daniel and Blanca Contreras from a small trailer on South 12th Avenue and no…Exo Roast Co.CaféExo Roast Co.Le Buzz CaféCaféLe Buzz Caffe is a breakfast-and-lunch café with a full espresso bar that has served Tucson since 1996, roasting its own coffee and baking its own pastries i…Mt. Lemmon Cookie CabinCaféMt.Posada JavaCaféPosada Java is a coffee shop at The Shoppes at La Posada, run by La Posada at Green Valley as the area's social hub.Presta Coffee RoastersCaféPresta Coffee Roasters is a Tucson specialty coffee roaster, with this location inside Mercado San Agustín, an open-air market on the city's west side.

Climbs, views & nature

Colossal Cave Mountain ParkCaveColossal Cave Mountain Park is built around one of the largest dry caves in North America, a 2,400-acre park southeast of Tucson also home to the 128-year-ol…Gates PassPass · 966 mMountain pass at 3,172 ft through the Tucson Mountains west of the city.Kitt PeakPeak · 2099 mKitt Peak (2,099 m) in Arizona's Sonoran Desert hosts Kitt Peak National Observatory, one of the world's largest collections of optical telescopes.Sabino Canyon Recreation AreaCanyonSabino Canyon Recreation Area lies in the Santa Catalina Mountains, where Depression-era CCC and WPA crews built the tram road, nine bridges over Sabino Cree…Saguaro National Park - Rincon Mountain DistrictNature reserveThe Rincon Mountain District preserves 92,000 acres of Sonoran Desert with giant saguaro cacti and high biodiversity.Saguaro National Park (Tucson Mountain District)National parkThis is the Tucson Mountain District ("Saguaro West") of Saguaro National Park, one of the densest saguaro forests in the Sonoran Desert.Sentinel PeakPeak · 884.2 mA 2,897 ft peak in the Tucson Mountains.

History & landmarks

Arizona State MuseumMuseum · TucsonArizona State Museum, founded 1893, preserves and displays archaeological artifacts from the region.Arizona-Sonora Desert MuseumZoo · TucsonA 98-acre zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, and natural history museum founded in 1952, just west of Tucson.Biosphere 2LandmarkA 3.14-acre enclosed ecosystem built 1987–1991 to test whether humans could survive in a sealed, self-sustaining environment, research aimed at eventual spac…International Wildlife MuseumMuseumThe International Wildlife Museum permanently closed on January 11, 2024, after operating as a natural history museum since 1988.Madera CanyonLandmarkCanyon in the Santa Rita Mountains, 25 miles southeast of Tucson, with hiking trails, picnic areas, and campsites.Mission GardenGardenMission Garden is a walled, four-acre living agricultural museum at the foot of Sentinel Peak, on the site of the Tohono O'odham village of Cuk Ṣon and Tucso…Mission San Xavier del BacPlace of worship · TucsonHistoric Spanish Catholic mission founded in 1692 by Eusebio Kino, located 10 miles south of downtown on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservat…Pima Air & Space MuseumMuseum · TucsonNearly 400 aircraft spread across 80 acres, one of the largest aerospace museums in the world.Saint Augustine CathedralCathedral · TucsonCathedral of Saint Augustine is the mother church of the Catholic Diocese of Tucson, located downtown.Titan Missile MuseumMuseum · SahuaritaCold War ICBM silo south of Tucson, built in 1963 and deactivated in 1984.Tucson Museum of ArtMuseum · TucsonLarge art museum on a four-acre block in downtown Tucson's Presidio District, with 74,000 sq ft of space including 19th-century historic homes adapted for ga…

Climbs

Gates Pass4.2 km · 3.9%Kitt Peak19.8 km · 5.4%Madera Canyon20.9 km · 3.7%Mount Graham (Swift Trail, AZ-366)34.1 km · 5.2%Mount Lemmon (Catalina Highway)46.3 km · 3.7%
CLIMB

Gates Pass

Tucson & the Sky Islands

Gradient by colour: under 3% 3–6% 6–9% 9%+

Stats computed from OpenStreetMap and satellite elevation data — approximate.

Gates Pass is a 4.2 km cycling climb averaging 3.9% (+162 m), rising from 801 m to 963 m in Tucson & the Sky Islands.

Tucson's west-side test, on a road a saloon keeper cut in 1883 with a thousand dollars of his own money after the county refused to pay. The CCC built the stone overlook at the saddle, and riders time it for the end of the day, when the pass opens the Avra Valley at exactly the hour the light goes long.

Gates Pass
dconvertini
Gates Pass
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Gates Pass
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Gates Pass
Nelo Hotsuma from Rockwall
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Where it bites

Steepest 500 m: 5.0% (km 3.1–3.6).

Road: paved throughout

kmtoavg
1833 m3.6%
2875 m4.0%
3906 m3.2%
4953 m4.5%

What it’s like to ride

Gates Pass is Tucson's short west-side test: about 4 km at around 4% out of the city on Speedway Boulevard, which becomes Gates Pass Road as it tightens into switchbacks. The average hides the shape of it, because the pitches touch nearly 11% and arrive in short bursts separated by rollers, with one kick close to the top that riders single out as noticeably steeper than the others. Saguaro, cholla, palo verde and ocotillo stand right at the edge of the asphalt the whole way, and the road tops out at 3,172 ft (967 m) on a narrow saddle. At the summit is a trailhead overlook with parking, a restroom, a ramada and interpretive displays, looking west toward Kitt Peak. Nothing is sold up there, no concessions and no vending machine, so carry what you need or load up at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Old Tucson down the far side. The west descent is narrow with tight turns, tight enough that RVs and anything over 23 feet are banned from the pass, and cars come past close in tourist season.

History

Thomas Gates, a Tucson saloon keeper, rancher and miner who arrived in the town in 1866, cut the first road over this saddle in 1883 to shorten the haul between Tucson and his mine in the Waterman Mountains. The county refused to fund it, so Gates spent $1,000 of his own money to clear and grade a narrow dirt track through the canyon, saving himself eight miles each way. The pass became a proper park road under the Civilian Conservation Corps, whose Camp Pima crews began work in 1933 and made Gates Pass the main access route into Tucson Mountain Park, building the stone overlook and picnic area at the top. Pima County widened the road in late 2005 so two vehicles could pass each other, work that Roads & Bridges magazine ranked the third best road project in the United States for 2006.

Worth stopping near the climb

Gates Pass<1 kmInternational Wildlife Museum<1 kmArizona-Sonora Desert Museum7 kmSentinel Peak7 kmPresta Coffee Roasters7 km

More climbs in Tucson & the Sky Islands

Mount Lemmon (Catalina Highway)46.3 km · 3.7%Madera Canyon20.9 km · 3.7%Kitt Peak19.8 km · 5.4%Mount Graham (Swift Trail, AZ-366)34.1 km · 5.2%

Common questions

How long and steep is Gates Pass?
Gates Pass is a 4.2 km cycling climb averaging 3.9% (+162 m), rising from 801 m to 963 m in Tucson & the Sky Islands.
Where is Gates Pass steepest?
The steepest 500 m averages 5.0%, between km 3.1 and km 3.6 of the climb.
What is the road surface like on Gates Pass?
Gates Pass is paved throughout.

Checked 13 August 2026

Elevation from SRTM (NASA) · Road line + coordinates © OpenStreetMap contributors · Story adapted from Wikipedia and cycling-media reporting, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited per image · Wikidata

Places / Tucson & the Sky Islands / Gates Pass

4.2 km · +162 m · 3.9% avg · ~5.0% max · 801 → 963 m

4%4%3%5%1234km801 m963 m

Photo: dconvertini · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Sources: OpenStreetMap