Mountain bikers, hikers, rock climbers, campers, bird-watchers and history buffs ply their passions at the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site.
It's a far, happy cry from the dark days of World War II - when the site in the Catalina Mountains housed an internment camp for Japanese-Americans.
Hirabayashi was among those held there on the basis of his Japanese ancestry.
The U.S. Forest Service named the site in his honor in 1999, citing his heartfelt challenges to the constitutionality of internment and a curfew imposed on Japanese-American citizens.
LOOK BACK IN TIME
Even if you're heading for a trailhead at the site for hiking, riding or climbing, you might take time for a walk among ruins of some of the camp buildings.
People are also reading…
Information panels at the foot of the crumbling walls describe life at the camp and Hirabayashi's story.
SET UP YOUR OWN CAMP
Along a road just beyond the internment-camp site is a public campground.
Set near a watercourse in oak woodland and grassland terrain, the campsites offer easy access to nearby trails. Camping fees are $10 per night.
TREK OR PEDAL A TRAIL
Hikers and riders will find a parking lot and trailhead where the road ends beyond the campground.
Mountain bikers tackle lots of ups and downs on the 2.4-mile Molino Basin Trail.
Hikers share that trail, and can extend their rambles on the connecting Soldier and Sycamore Reservoir trails.
CLIMB A ROCK
Climbers - including Bryan Baker and Jeremiah Peck, who visited the area on a recent balmy day - test their mettle on cliffs rising from a deep-cut gorge.
Reach the climbing site by following a watercourse downstream from a point near the junction of the Molino Basin and Soldier Trails. The terrain is steep and calls for great caution.
GET THERE
Take Tanque Verde Road to the Catalina Highway and follow the highway to a left turnoff for the recreation site between mileposts 7 and 8. The Forest Service charges a $5 fee on the highway.
Contact reporter Doug Kreutz at dkreutz@azstarnet.com or at 573-4192.