Letterboxing~Tucson Atturbury BAAS

After leaving AMARC in Tucson, we drove a little further north to a huge park called "Lincoln Park". There were a couple different entrances with all sorts of the usual accoutrements of the typical urban park, but also included one thing wonderously different. The large area, esconced within Lincoln Park is called "Atturbury Bird and Animal Sanctuary".
What a gem!
There were shady, winding gravel paths among the mesquite and palo verde trees filled with whistling and twittering birds. We had the pleasure of seeing our first Vermillion FlyCatcher here!
Along with the wildlife within the trees, there were also racing lizards and equally racing roadrunners speeding into the twisting washes.
There were also breathtaking views of the surrounding mountain ranges.

One of the things that impresses me about the city of Tucson are the numerous urban parks, natural areas, wildlife viewing areas, biking/hiking trails and wild open spaces. And the few that we got to experience and see were really beautiful with specialized and unique vegetation and wildlife. We could spend years in this area and probably never tire of the rugged hikes, unique wildlife and vegetation, and the broad glorious vistas in every direction.

A placard showing the trails and the history of Atturbury Sanctuary.

A view from the top of one of the hill trails, looking north to the Catalina Mountains. They are so small that the kids can hold them within their hands


The kids taking a break after finding the letterbox, which included a nice handcarved stamp with a scene of the Catalina mountains framed by the park vegetation. Jax was quite fond of the barrel cacti that we found in the park. He thought they should be like a fluffy pillow and not so 'prickly'.