Rose Canyon with Christina Klock

Trip Difficulty: Moderate/difficult. ~4 mile hike out-and-back via a paved road with 600 ft elevation change (down going in, up coming back). Many birds will be higher in the canopy, so this trip is best suited to birders with good binocular skills. Trip Duration: about 6 hours total including drive time. There are pit toilets along the paved road at regular intervals.

Rose Canyon is a ponderosa pine forest at 7000′ elevation. We will slowly bird Rose Canyon from the small parking lot off Catalina Highway down towards the campground, walking on Rose Canyon Road. We will be looking for our higher elevation birds such as Hairy Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, flocks of Pygmy Nuthatches, and Pine Siskins. Lucky birders may also see our summer high-elevation warblers or some migrating birds as well. Bring water and a sack lunch and we’ll eat lunch at one of the many picnic tables in the canyon. Limited to 10 participants.

Due to limited parking off Catalina Highway, carpooling is recommended. We’ll meet at the Safeway parking lot at 9125 E Tanque Verde Rd at 8:30AM and be at the canyon around 9:30AM. We will plan to be back at Safeway around 3:30PM. Drivers need a National Park Pass.

Leader: Christina Klock (cklockTAS@gmail.com)

Registration for this trip is free. Register for this trip beginning on Apr 8 at 7:00 AM.

Header Image: Red-Faced Warbler by Shawn Cooper