This latest walk in our series about exploring Tucson on foot winds through Reid Park — taking you through a blooming rose garden, over to see ducks, geese and a waterfall, past the zoo, onto the popular multi-use path and through a secret shady grove of mesquites.
1. Turn east onto Concert Place from South Country Club Road (between Broadway and 22nd Street). Head south on Concert Place, past the dog park (Miko’s Corner Playground). Park in front of the Rose Test Garden. Take a stroll through the garden — no cutting the roses! — and find a shady spot to sit under the gazebo in the center.
2. Continue east down the sidewalk past the lake to see the ducks, geese and a gentle waterfall.
3. Continue east and cross the street at the railroad crossing sign (it’s a tiny train for the kiddos to ride around the park). Continue on the sidewalk past the zoo. Zoo admission is $9 for ages 15-61; $7 for ages 62 and up; $5 for ages 2-14; free for under age 2.
Reid Park's Rose Test Garden
4. Walk around the zoo and follow the sidewalk past the Edith Ball Adaptive Recreation Center. The shaded pool has open swim times Mondays through Saturdays in the summer. It is $2 for adults and $1 for kids under 12. Call 791-5643 for times. Use the crosswalk on Randolph Way to get to the multi-use path. Runners, dog walkers, inline skaters and bicyclists use this path at all times of the day and into the evening.
5. Take the path north past Hi Corbett Field where the Cleveland Indians, Tucson Toros and Colorado Rockies all played. It is now home to the University of Arizona Wildcats baseball team.
6. Leave the path just past the ballpark parking lot, crossing Randolph Way at the four-way stop. You’ll see a small plaza with a statue of Epes Randolph — the street’s namesake and the name of the adjacent golf complex.
7. Here’s the secret part of your walk — the Arroyo Chico footpath is a bit tricky to find but definitely worth the hunt. Walk through the plaza through the desert to the street behind it called Luna Linda. Enter the dirt trail on the west side of the street right before the big dip into the wash. There are two big rocks on either side of the path and the trail has been well-worn by runners and walkers. Stay alert, it’s rattlesnake season in the desert. Follow the foot path as it winds through the desert next to the arroyo. At Via Esperanza you’ll cross to the other side of the wash and continue.
8. This route is an out-and-back so once you hit the end of the footpath at Country Club, you’ll turn around and head back to the rose garden.
