Anne grew up in Tucson and I lived in Tucson for a total of about ten years, and we have visited at least twice since we've moved away, so we are very familiar with the Catalina State Park area. We have hiked the Southerland Trail before and immediately after the wild fire that took place in the early 90s. We've also hiked the trail after the vegetation started to recover. It's a strange sight hiking through a forest after a recent fire, with all of the blackened dead trees reaching toward a blue sky. But it is even stranger hiking through a Sonoran desert setting that has been burned. The blackened saguaro cactus spines are very distressing, and the bare ground looks even more desolate than you'd expect in a desert. A portion of the Southerland trail passes through a grassy area, and that was completely burned.

One interesting side note, as we hiked along on our first hike after the fire, we spotted some sort of constrictor type snake enter a hole in the ground. The hole was just big enough for it to fit. And that was a strange sight, seeing this living rope wiggle its way into the ground. It literally looked like it was being absorbed by the ground. If there had been vegetation we would never have seen that.

Other parts of the Southerland Trail pass along or near a water course that usually has some water in it. There is lots of slick water washed rock that is very interesting and fun to rest on.

Most of the Southerland Trail is exposed, especially the portion that passes through the grassy area and another portion that follows an old jeep trail toward the Santa Catalina Mountains.

The park itself is large and spread out, with a nice flat campground with some Palo Verde trees and other tall Mesquite and scrub for some shade. There is a large paved parking area near the trail heads for both the Southerland and Romero Canyon trails. These trails are quite popular on weekends during the cooler winter months.

The Canada del Oro wash usually has water running in it, and there is a "nature" loop off of the Romero Canyon Trail that takes you along portions of the wash.

The Romero Canyon Trial heads more directly into the Santa Catalina Mountains and gets steep in places. The trail passes through rocky areas that hide small alcoves and slots and natural tanks that fill with water. Many are deep enough to swim in and to cool off in on a hot afternoon. The trail passes through a very interesting rugged area.