"Since we've been building it, several people have come by to tell us how they've had to crawl down without getting hurt," stonemason Darrell Klesh told KGUN in May, standing at the base of the dam in Sabino Canyon. For about twenty years, the way from the creek bank up to the top of the dam had been loose rock and good balance. Now there are steps again.
The steps went back this year, built by hand from the same granite the flood carried off. October brings the season when the canyon is at its most crowded, and this is the first cool season in about two decades with the stairs in place. Sabino Canyon's larger future still exists mainly as a fundraising goal.
Thirty Yards Downstream
The stone steps at Sabino Dam washed out in the flood of 2006, according to the Friends of Sabino Canyon's Summer 2026 newsletter. They were not lost, only scattered. Klesh and his fellow mason Rodney Anderson dug the original support boulders and the huge granite slabs out of the creek bed. The newsletter says the water had carried them about thirty yards down the canyon. The plan was to return the slabs to their original positions and add a new railing and a stone bench.
The steps link the lower banks of Sabino Creek to the upper level of the dam. The newsletter calls this "an easy, safe, and direct route." Jim Darling of Friends of Sabino Canyon told KGUN the rebuilt stairway would be "a little bit wider," with steps built to current standards. KVOA later reported that the Santa Catalina Ranger District, Friends of Sabino Canyon and local partners had gathered to celebrate the finished reconstruction. The masons used native stone so the steps would match the dam, which KVOA says was finished in 1938 during the Works Progress Administration era.
The project also went through formal review. The Coronado National Forest reviewed its environmental and cultural effects before work started, and the Arizona State Historic Preservation Officer checked the design against preservation standards. Private donors to the Friends paid for more than half the cost, and the Forest Service paid the rest. Coronado National Forest spokesperson Starr Farrell described the aim as keeping "the CCC-era craftsmanship while ensuring the structure can withstand modern environmental pressures."
The history of the stonework is layered. The Forest Service says New Deal relief crews built the canyon road, nine bridges, the dam and a series of stairways and picnic shelters in the mid-1930s. Flood after flood has damaged that stonework, yet much of it still stands for the more than one million people who visit each year. The dam stairs had been one of the pieces still missing.
The Same Hands, Across the Lower Canyon
The stairway is not a one-off. The Friends' newsletter says Klesh and Anderson have spent fifteen years in the canyon repairing bridges and stone structures, including the stonework on the newly renovated Canyon Interpretive Outpost at Shuttle Stop 1.
The pattern holds beyond their work. The changes that have actually reached the ground in 2026 are small, privately funded and close to the entrance. The largest project is still on paper. KGUN reported in June that a $32 million renovation of the visitor center is planned, and that the Friends still need to raise money before work can begin in 2028. Officials hope the Great American Outdoors Act will cover most of the cost.
That future building is already moving a trail. The Bajada Loop is a quarter-mile introduction to the slope of sediment washed down from the Santa Catalinas. It began as the "Naturalists' Trail" shortly after the visitor center opened in 1964. It is now being rerouted to make room for the new visitor center. The Friends raised $71,000 for the new loop. A committee chaired by Hank Harlow, a retired University of Wyoming zoology professor who sits on the Friends board, is designing the route and the signs for its six "landings." Flagline Trails has marked the route with flags and stakes. The plan calls for a crushed-stone surface suited to visitors with limited mobility, and the Friends said they hoped to finish by fall 2026. No completion notice had been published as of early October, so the surface underfoot may still be in progress.
KGUN also reported in June that more shade structures, updated trails and routes, and art installations at some restrooms were "coming this fall." No locations or artists have been named publicly since then.
Getting Up the Canyon This Month
The stairs are finished just as the canyon enters its busiest months. The Forest Service notes that the main lot gets crowded in fall, winter and spring. An overflow gravel lot sits just past the main entrance. The visitor center, bookstore and shuttle run daily from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Restrooms near the visitor center close from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., but the outdoor drinking fountains stay on.
The Crawler fleet is newer than many regulars may realize. The operator's June 25, 2026 release says two wheelchair-accessible electric shuttles, each seating up to 62 passengers, are in service. Smaller 23-seat electric shuttles run when demand calls for them.
| Service | Route | Adult fare | Ages 3–12 | Posted minimum | Peak-season addition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabino Canyon Crawler | 3.7 miles to the summit, nine stops, about one hour round trip | $15 | $8 | Hourly 9 a.m.–4 p.m. from the visitor center; summit returns at :30 through 4:30 p.m. | Half-hourly 10 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Bear Canyon shuttle | Two-mile road segment, three stops, serves the Seven Falls trailhead | $8 | $5 | Hourly 9:15 a.m.–4:15 p.m.; last Stop 3 return 4:25 p.m. | Half-hourly 9:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. |
Children under 3 ride free on both routes. The vehicle fee is charged separately. The Forest Service lists that fee at $8 a day or $10 a week. A $40 Coronado National Forest annual pass covers it, and qualifying interagency passes are accepted. The operator recommends reservations and says actual frequency changes with demand. Check the live ticket calendar before planning a morning around a specific departure.
The Last Saturdays After Dark
October is also the end of the canyon's night season. The operator's 2026 release lists Saturday night tours from July 4 through October 31. The ride is a 7.4-mile round trip, and weather can cancel it. The tour lasts about 90 minutes. The Crawler runs to the end of Sabino Canyon Road, stops for 10 minutes at the upper overlook, then comes down toward the Bear Canyon Overlook Picnic Area, which looks out over the Tucson skyline. Tickets are $15 per person, and riders may bring flashlights and ultraviolet lights. The release notes the Hunter's Moon on Sunday, October 25, the night after one of the final Saturday tours.
The operator's homepage still gives October 25 as the last night tour. That page appears to carry over older wording, and the dated 2026 release extends the season through October 31. The ticket calendar will show which Saturdays are actually still bookable.
October's Calendar Around the Creek
The Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists' public schedule for the coming weeks includes these events:
- A bird and nature walk on Sunday, October 4, at 8 a.m.
- An interpretive table of wildlife skulls and pelts on Tuesday, October 13, at 9:30 a.m.
- A "Wild Cats of Sabino Canyon" table on Saturday, October 17, at 8 a.m.
- Geology programming on Thursday, October 29, at 8:30 a.m.
Women Who Explore lists a moderate Sabino Canyon loop of just under four miles on Friday, October 9, from 7 to 10 a.m. The group meets at the benches by the visitor center.
Hikers on Phoneline #27 will pass the monsoon's most visible mark on the canyon. The Arizona Daily Star reported that several saguaros had toppled near the trail by September 3, after the storms that closed out Tucson's 26th-wettest August on record. Farrell said the cause was "more than likely weather related," because saguaros that take on a lot of water get heavy and fall more easily. She described the monsoon's overall effects on Sabino as minor. A July storm did briefly interrupt service. KOLD reported trail and road damage, and Bear Canyon shuttle service was expected to be out until the following day. The Forest Service alerts page showed no fire restrictions in effect.
The rebuilt steps run from the lower creek bank to the top of the dam. Someone who arrives on the first half-hourly Crawler of a peak-season morning can be on them before the main lot fills.
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