February Art Hike - Sweetwater Preserve

Winter hiking in Southern Arizona is the best! We explored Sweetwater Preserve on the west side of I-10 close to the Tucson Mountains for February's Art Hike. This is a great area to enjoy the desert landscape while the winter temperatures allow us to.

The system of trails here allows you to choose whatever length trail you'd like so if you want to do a short one mile hike or a longer 5 mile meandering loop you're able to do that at the Sweetwater Preserve. Just keep an eye out for mountain bikers as this is a popular place for them.

We had a great group with some veteran Art Hike attendees and some new faces! I always enjoy the mix of people these Art Hikes bring out. We had a couple birders who helped us identify some birds we saw and heard. It's fun to learn from other people, especially about topics I know little about.

While out hiking we ran into a group hike put on my Unlikely Hikers! Led by Jenny Bruso this inclusive group helps people from traditionally marginalized communities feel safe getting outside. If you're not familiar with Jenny and her work you definitely need to check her out and follow her on instagram. It was fun to have two groups meet up!

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I only got videos and not photos of the other paintings that were made during our creative hour and my blog posts don't like videos unfortunately. Here's my watercolor painting of Wasson Peak, the tallest point in the Tucson Mountains.

This was such a wonderful morning exploring the Sonoran Desert. If you want to join us for a future Art Hike, sign up for my newsletter below to hear about them first or check back here under the Art Hike tab at the top of my website.

Sweetwater Preserve, Tucson AZ

Date hiked: February 18, 2022

Total miles: 3.5 mile out and back

Elevation gain: +/- 215 feet

Total time: 3 hours (with lots of stopping)

Land acknowledgement: Ancestral lands of the Tohono O'odham and Yaqui