Каталинская магистраль: Живописный путь к вершине горы Леммон

Scenic route in Pima County, Arizona

The Catalina Highway, officially the General Hitchcock Highway, is the popular name for a Forest Highway and scenic route located in Pima County in southern Arizona. Also known as the Sky Island Scenic Byway, the Mount Lemmon Highway and Arizona Forest Highway 39, the Catalina Highway is the only paved roadway providing access to the resort village of Summerhaven as well as various recreational and scientific facilities located near the summit of Mount Lemmon. Ascending from the desert floor in Tucson to near the summit of Mount Lemmon, the short highway gains over 6000 feet (1829 m), showcasing a variety of climates ranging from lowland desert to alpine forests. The name sky island comes from the analogy of these mountains being like islands of forest in a sea of desert. It is designated as a scenic byway by the National Scenic Byways Program. and an Arizona Scenic Road by the Federal Highway Administration.

The Catalina Highway begins at its intersection with Tanque Verde Road in northeast Tucson, traversing the unincorporated community of Tanque Verde before crossing into the Coronado National Forest. At this point, the roadway officially becomes the General Hitchcock Highway (Arizona Forest Highway 39), although many maps reflect the common usage of "Catalina Highway" to refer to the entire roadway. From the boundary with the National Forest, the highway takes a winding route through the Santa Catalina Mountains by way of Molino Canyon. Due to the rapid gain in elevation there are numerous switchbacks, but the road follows a generally northward direction, passing Willow Canyon, until reaching Forest Road 9 and Rose Canyon Lake, after which it begins traveling in a generally northwestern direction, passing Whitetail and Soldier Camp, to the village of Summerhaven. The final segment of the road, sometimes signed as Ski Run Road, heads east to the Mount Lemmon Ski Valley and ultimately approaches its final terminus near the summit of Mount Lemmon. The roadway was awarded with the Arizona Engineering Excellence Grand Award for Context Sensitive Design in 2005 for minimizing damage to existing terrain and pinnacles and careful preservation of the delicate environment.

The Catalina Highway provides the only paved access to attractions on Mount Lemmon and the Santa Catalina Mountains, and has become a popular destination for tourism in the region. According to the Federal Highway Administration, the Catalina Highway is traveled over by more than one million visitors every year. In addition to the numerous recreational activities the highway offers access to, the highway's status as a Scenic Drive is a draw in and of itself. The Forest Service describes the drive as a biological and ecological tour from Mexico to Canada in only 27 miles. The route is also popular with bicycling enthusiasts, providing a significant challenge of skill. Local cycling organizations regularly organize rides consisting of 200 or more riders along the highway to the summit of the mountain. October 2010 saw the inaugural running of the Mount Lemmon Marathon which saw nearly 800 participants finish the race from near the start of the highway up to Summerhaven.