Southwest Highways April 2013 | Page 10

9 Southwest Highways & Fields

Arizona

The bass are ready to be hooked, especially on Lake Mead.

Largemouth, smallmouth and stripers are all being caught in large

numbers right now, so why not head out to the lake this weekend?

40 miles of trails offer hiking, mountain biking, and horseback

riding through the beautiful desert scenery at Catalina State

Park north of Tucson. You can hike past ruins and over vistas

that overlook the Sonoran Desert and Santa Catalina Mountains.

Some trails go through riparian canyons and climb up into the

mountains to natural pools of water. The trail system connects

with the Coronado National Forest.

The only game that can be hunted is animals with no closed season,

such as mountain lion, cottontail rabbits, and furbearers.

Sierra Vista is the Hummingbird Capital of the U.S., and the best

spot for migrating hummers in late April. Fifteen different

hummingbird species can be seen there, including the spectacular

Rufous, Calliope, and Lucifer Hummingbirds. There are many great

birding sites in a variety of habitats within an hour or two of

Sierra Vista, where accomodations are plentiful.

Cattail Cove State Park is located on Lake Havasu on the

California border. The lake is a watersports paradise, and the fish

are plentiful. In addition to that, the area around Lake Havasu

City is very rich geologically. Geodes, jaspers, obsidian, turquoise

and agates can be found. There are 61 RV/Tent sites, with 4

50-amp sites. In addition to the developed campground, you can

take your boat out to a primitive campsite with picnic tables and

pit toilets. No fires allowed in primitive sites.

The Campfire Outdoors Guide