Rillito River Park

I love this park! It is a wonderful and safe way to get in an early morning bike ride. There are easy entries and exits along the way. One of my favorites is to get off at Congress and ride to the top of A Mountain and the back home via the bike path. Lots of views and parks along the way. It is nice to ride and not worry about cars. This park is a wonderful part of Tucson!

I didn’t even realize the was considered a park, because it’s so long! This is really well-​maintained and not too crowded. Bikes and peds share the path and it’s seamless. I really enjoy walking and biking it on a cool day. This is a safe place to cut through the city and just enjoy your day.

A trail that wraps around most of the city! A great solution to get around town safely. 50 + miles of paved path which is suitable for walkers, bikers, runners, etc. The pros are that there are numerous entrances onto the path, bathrooms and even water stops. Weekends the busiest time, so I take advantage of the weekday mornings. It’s not the most scenic route at least on the southwest side of town, and personally I don’t recommend to go out alone at slow times of the day/evening…questionable characters hang around below the highway underpasses and it doesn’t always feel safe, but that’s just my opinion. Ultimately, I’m just grateful to have the river path as it allows for locals to enjoy a traffic free route.

A gem in Tucson. Linear trail along the Rillito. Nice multi-​use paved trail for bikers, runners and walkers. Great views and nicely maintained. I’ve done Flowing Wells to First Ave. Pima has a great trail system and this is part of it.

Hey it is the desert … this is a huge long park along the river with an excellent path for walking, biking or running. Take water in hot weather. Women should have their cell phone … there have been a couple of bad instances.
Overall this is very clean and very safe.
Oddly I have only seen some bunnies and birds, you would think that the dry river bed would be great for animal transition.
Some areas have restrooms. If you are a biker, you can avoid traffic and pop out at different places to go shopping.
Enjoy

Once you get over the initial sadness of realizing that there’s no water in the river (right…I live in Tucson… desert…right, this makes sense), you realize that the park is a real gem.
I usually come here for running, but the park is commonly used for biking, as well. There is a wonderfully paved path, as well as a dirt path that runs along side of it so you have options. Most of the path is flat, which is makes it a great option for anyone who is new to running/​biking, or trying to get back into shape.
The views are lovely and you can see plants and mountains from almost everywhere on the trail.
Parking is plentiful, and the park is huge so you have a lot to explore.

A great way to escape the city without having to even leave it! I go here a few times a week with the pup and we love it. There is a well maintained paved trail and also a dirt trail. Beautiful views of the mountains and desert scenery! Sometimes you’ll even see some coyotes just hanging out in the desert area. In the dirt trail a lot of people play fetch with their dog or let them off leash. It’s a lot of fun and my dog always meets new friends!

I lived in Tucson for 6 years and I can’t believe I did not find out about this place until today! I’ve been trying to find a dog friendly hiking trail close to my place and this was perfect! The trail was paved along with a side dirt trail that we were able to use. The difficulty level was very easy and leisurely for my fur-​baby. The trail continued diagonally from Limberlost and Campbell to Craycroft. It seemed endless! The only thing I would suggest are more dog friendly water fountains along the trail.

What a fantastic gem in a city. The paved walking/​biking trail runs for 12 miles along the Rillito River. While most of the trail has sides on the north and south, there is a stretch from Country Club to Alvernon that only runs on the north side. There are bridges to cross over the river every ½ or 1 mile. The signs are very clear marking the distance to the next major street. It’s great to push yourself to go just the extra 0.5 mile on a run. There are many parks to explore off this path, including locations with restrooms and water fountains (albeit, they spit out hot water in the summer). My favorite stop is at Brandi Fenton Park, where you can park as well. To explore a little in the desert, I like to wander around Rio Vista Park (on the South Side between Country Club and Campbell).

One of my fav paths to run on in Tucson. It is domestically kept, but feels a little adventurous as city running goes. It has many fun bridges to connect the sides that are pedestrian exclusive and you can always find other runners, walkers and cyclists smiling back at you.
I wish it was better lit in the evenings though!

Okay let’s face it: we live in a desert, so there isn’t any water in this river. Sure, every five months or so we get a big storm and some flows through (don’t blink or you’ll miss it). Otherwise, it’s a dry wash. And that wash is often used for horseback riding (the word equestrian, which is such a cool word!) or for sleeping hobos.
But along the River Park is the totally super cool path. For someone like me who needs to walk (and boy do I need to walk, run and bike) it’s a great path. It stretches all over the place, from Craycroft down to the Tucson Mall, and wraps around along the I-​10 (don’t worry, you aren’t on the freeway with traffic) and down to somewhere around the detention center on Silverlake.
Along the journey there is water, restrooms, parks, and places to jump on and off. It’s a super commute. Sure it’s a bit hot during the summer. Go early or go late, or slather on a lot of sun screen, and hit the trails. Be mindful of other people coming and going on the trail including bikers and folks immersed in their music players. Dodge strollers and dogs. And have fun.
And I’m serious about the sun screen. Skin cancer is no fun!

Great park to take the dogs on a walk, play with the kids, or jog around with the stroller. There are bathrooms, shading, a playground, grass, water fountains, and trails.
I love to take the little girl I nanny for on a jog, not only because the stroller guarantees a nap without fail… But because the park is beautiful and feels quite safe! There are other families and children all around. We stop at the shaded picking tables and it doesn’t ever feel neglected or dirty.
In the evenings my boyfriend and I take our two dogs on a walk through the trails and let them bounce around in the grass if we don’t get to the dog park before dark. The only bummer is there isn’t much lighting in the park. The best part is the park has water fountains for both you and your pets, just like the dog parks!

Great trails. Took my little doggie friend for a nice walk and she was happy as ever. She loves running in the river pit, the sand makes her so happy!
The best part is the openness, allowing the foothills to really shine in all their glory.

I love the Rillito Riverwalk! I bike a portion of this path at least 3 times a week, usually in the mornings but when the weather is nice in the afternoons too. I have never felt unsafe and enjoy the friendliness of the other people walking/​biking here. There’s such a soothing almost meditational feel about this place it is easy to forget you’re in the middle of the city.

Love walking my pup around the park, and all of the Campus Farm area. Very clean, very peaceful. The riverwalk is well cared for, lots of poop stations and I’ve noted that there’s stations for people to fix up their bicycles while on the path. Very thoughtful!
Best time to visit is around 5:30/6:30 when the bats fly out!

I love taking my yorkie on a walk here on a nice afternoon. It always makes me happy to see so many people of all walks of life exercising (running, biking, walking) on this trail. The trail is paved, with views of Tucson’s desert wash. I’ve seen the wash running on occasion, but usually only during the summer monsoon season.
There are several doggy poop-​bag stations and trashcans, which keeps the trail clean and beautiful. I’ve yet to make it through the entire loop, we usually stop and turn around after about 30 minutes. Maybe one day…

Pretty awesome, long walking and biking path. It took me 43 minutes to ride the entire north side path from Craycroft to the end at River and basically the I-​10. That’s a long time without having to stop!
There are some nice parks, bathrooms and water fountains along the way.
Cutting over to the south side of the path can be fun, but it starts and stops often. Be warned, near the mall it just dumps you into the mall parking lot. Not too safe. But it is nice to get a change of scenery sometimes.
The path can be crowded, but be nice and yield to the people you should be yielding to and you and everyone else will have a great time.

Nice straight paths that are paved for running or jogging. There’s a lot of scenic desert landscape to look at, and for those that are taking their dogs for a walk, there are dog scoop stations to pick up after your pet. In general, people along this trail are pretty good about keeping things clean, which is very nice compared to other parks where you have to really watch where you step!

This path has become my go to for outside running and walking.
It is very well maintained. There are numerous garbage cans along the path and doggie disposal bags available.
There are beautiful views if you get out on the path at sunrise or sunset.
All along the path there are entrances, and the parking lots to access the path are in some excellent spots. In addition some of the parking areas have bathrooms that are maintained very well.
The best part, is the online map of this place. You can see the whole path, see whether its dirt of paved, see where the parking is located, which have bathrooms, etc. And, the best part is they have mileage. Therefore, you can plan out a run beforehand.
It definitely gets busy on the weekend and sometimes you have to watch out for some fast cyclists cruising by you. And, if you plan it right, you can get in an early morning workout on the path and then head to the Farmers Market at St. Phillips Plaza on the weekends.
Overall, this is an amazing path that we are very fortunate to have. I encourage everyone to get out and check it out.

I really really love this trail for a run!!! I cannot stand running uphill so the fact that this trail is long, straight and flat is quite the plus. I start at the River and LaCholla and run to Oracle and back… a great 6 mile haul. One of these days I want to go to Campbell, eat and head back. The fact that it runs along a river will is a plus when water is actually running! If you are a walker, make sure to watch the wash closely for wildlife!
Things to watch out for… bikers and rollerbladers. For the most part they’re friendly toward walkers and runners but there is always an exception to the rule!