Catalina Highway, Tucson Drive Guide

The Sky Island drive up the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson is the elevation hook of the whole state compressed into 27 paved miles: you leave saguaro forest at the base and climb about 6,000 feet to spruce and fir near the 9,171-foot summit, passing through what ecologists reckon is the equivalent of driving from the Sonoran Desert to Canada. Near the top sits Summerhaven, a tiny mountain village, and Ski Valley — the southernmost ski area in the continental United States, running lifts on snow with cactus visible in the valley below. The rock formations partway up (Windy Point, hoodoos, balanced boulders) are a rock-climber’s cathedral.