Catalina Highway (Mt. Lemmon)

The Catalina Highway, officially the General Hitchcock Highway and designated the Sky Island Scenic Byway, climbs 27 miles from northeast Tucson (2,800 feet) to near the summit of Mount Lemmon (9,157 feet) in the Santa Catalina Mountains — a 6,300-foot gain through six distinct vegetation zones in a single road. The lower desert section features open sweepers with saguaro and ocotillo; the upper section narrows into pine-shaded curves past granite formations and the small alpine resort village of Summerhaven. The highway is a Forest Highway (Arizona FH-39) maintained within Coronado National Forest and is not numbered as an AZ state route. It is uniquely notable for compressing a drive from Sonoran Desert to Canadian-zone spruce forest in under 30 miles — the ecological equivalent of driving from Mexico to Canada.