Aspen Trail, Wilderness of Rocks, and Marshall Gulch Loop in Coronado National Forest, AZ

Hike Aspen Trail, Wilderness of Rocks, and Marshall Gulch Loop Coronado National Forest, AZ

Class 1 10.3 miles 2800 gain 4-6 hrs Loop Apr 3, 2016
Effort
Beauty
Personality
Solitude

Aspen Trail, Wilderness of Rocks, and Marshall Gulch Loop GPX Track

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Although you can drive up to Mount Lemmon, I wanted to check out the trail system on the southern side of the mountain. The loop combination I did created a figure 8 and made hiking to the summit feel more of a rewarding process. If you want a longer loop from mountain base to summit of Mount Lemmon, check out this trip report.

I started from the Marshall Gulch Trailhead and headed along the Marshall Gulch Trail. This forested trail leads to a big trail junction at Marshall Saddle. I continued north along the Upper Aspen Trail and took a short detour to Mount Lemmon's summit (or at least as high as I could legally get before trespassing to the true high point). From here I continued west along the pretty rim and descended Lemmon Rock Trail, which led to the Wilderness of Rocks Trail. I now had to ascend a few hundred vertical feet to get back up to Marshall Saddle, completing the top part of the figure 8. The Wilderness of Rocks Trail had a lot of great rock formations and scenery. Once at Marshall Saddle, I headed south along the Aspen Trail, which had some great views to the rest of the Santa Catalina Mountains, and made it back to the trailhead.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)
Peaks on hike
Elevation
Prominence
1
Mount Lemmon
9157 ft
5157 rise

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I started from the Marshall Gulch Trailhead.
I started from the Marshall Gulch Trailhead.
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Ascending along the Upper Aspen Trail.
Ascending along the Upper Aspen Trail.
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Views along the Upper Aspen Trail.
Views along the Upper Aspen Trail.
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Mount Lemmon Lookout.
Mount Lemmon Lookout.
Mount Lemmon.
Mount Lemmon.
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Descending from Mount Lemmon along the Lemmon Rock Trail.
Descending from Mount Lemmon along the Lemmon Rock Trail.
Wilderness of Rocks Trail.
Wilderness of Rocks Trail.
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Looking out toward Mount Kimball and Window Peak.
Looking out toward Mount Kimball and Window Peak.
You can see Mount Wrightson in the distance and Thimble Peak down below.
You can see Mount Wrightson in the distance and Thimble Peak down below.
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Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!