Name: Desperado Loop
Rating: 4.6

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Family Friendly Not too technical so it's a great beginner section that gets you into the nice desert area.

Description

This loop is a nice way to add more miles to the counterclockwise Sweetwater Trail System featured ride on the way back to the parking lot.

This loop trail is a faster, more flowing section with topography for pumps. This trail unfortunately skips some of the fun but adds a little more technical downhill than what Wildflower Ridge Trail provides. It descends towards the apex of the loop and climbs back to the parking lot ridge.

Contacts

Local Club: Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists

Jul 29, 2026: Mt Graham Article about SDMB Volunteers

Jul 17, 2026: IMBA Article about Tucson Trails

Feb 25, 2026: Raffle WInner

Land Manager: Pima County - Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation

Shared By:

Jason Wild with improvements by Britt Adams and 1 other

Full Details

Trail Ratings

4.6 from 66 votes

#1

in Sweetwater Preserve

#90

Overall

4.6 from 66 votes

5 Star		68%
4 Star		27%
3 Star		3%
2 Star		2%
1 Star		0%

Trail Rankings

#1

in Sweetwater Preserve

#5

in Arizona

#90

Overall

58 Views Last Month

4,301 Since Aug 5, 2016

		39%
		27%
		30%
		0%
		2%
		2%

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Photos

Feb 14, 2021 near Flowing…, AZ

Enjoy a taste of riding among the giant saguaros on narrow singletrack.

Feb 14, 2017 near Flowing…, AZ

Take a lap on the Desperado Loop to experience fun, flowy singletrack.

Feb 17, 2017 near Flowing…, AZ

Feb 14, 2021 near Flowing…, AZ

Feb 14, 2021 near Flowing…, AZ

Apr 5, 2020 near Flowing…, AZ

4 Comments

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 35 days ago

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Check-Ins

Sep 6, 2025

af voltron

This is the fourth time I've ridden Desperado Loop with my kids. My youngest(9) has a tough time on some of the sections, but we have always made i… 4mi

Mar 27, 2024

Matt Hage

Fun ride with my 7yo son 3.6mi

Jan 10, 2024

Michael Genau

Jun 8, 2023

Courtney Payne

Dec 24, 2022

Mountain Park

3.6mi — 0h 45m

Feb 24, 2022

mike kelly

3 loops desperado, wildflower, oxbow, night hawk. Please yield to other users our continued access might depend on it. 12mi

Feb 22, 2022

Andy Hubble

Always dig this ride, but a little crowded today 4mi — 32h 20m

Jan 21, 2022

Rock On

lots of hikers with dogs

Nov 25, 2021

Mountain Park

1.5mi — 0h 04m

Nov 24, 2021

Jazz Carr

3.6mi

Nov 23, 2021

Jazz Carr

3.6mi

Nov 12, 2021

Miriam R

Desperado to Wildflower to Oxbow to Nighthawk to Desperado counter clockwise 4.7mi — 0h 38m

Aug 19, 2021

Crystal McCloyn

Mar 20, 2021

Victor Valencia

4mi — 0h 28m

Feb 27, 2021

Atsuko Ohtake

Really fun! This trail was easy.

Jan 17, 2021

Woody Feffer

First trail ride on the new gravel bikes. Loved it!

Jan 7, 2021

Haleigh Powell

Dec 31, 2020

Dan 60D5H411

With T, O, E

Dec 19, 2020

Shawn Villalpando

Super easy, fast, flowy

Nov 21, 2020

Private User

Apr 24, 2020

mikehilbert

did two laps today with dad. way fun. way better than the other loops here which are pretty rocky and garbo. 7mi — 1h 00m

Apr 5, 2020

Samantha Lowden Brees

First time for everything!

Mar 12, 2020

Sarah Silverstein

Feb 29, 2020

Chris Aesoph

Desperado is fun and relaxing alley-oops.

Jan 3, 2020

James Bishop

Easy to link up all of the trails in this area for a great ride. Finished up the Sweetwater Loop for a smooth, flowy finish! 10.2mi

Nov 23, 2019

Martin Rockwell

May 4, 2019

Christopher Lynn

Mar 31, 2019

Tash Stevens

Desperado-more technical than expected on dry rocky trail. A nice gradual incline, technical midsection and easy finish. First trail since broken wris 3.6mi — 16h 00m

Jan 21, 2019

Jeff Smith

Jan 15, 2019

Czar Huang

Jan 4, 2019

Carlos Lopez

My second day hitting the trails. I tell you this sport is not for the faint hearted. It is no easy chore for a 44 years old man. 4.3mi

Dec 2, 2018

Jeff Smith

Nov 11, 2018

Dustin Nonnemacher

3.6mi

Oct 6, 2018

Jose Leal

Sep 2, 2018

Frank Kaiser

Super nice trail. Very nice flow and fun to ride. Very enjoyable. 3.8mi — 0h 40m

Aug 29, 2018

Damon Roth

Mar 2, 2018

Daniel Dixon

Jan 29, 2018

Richard Schmiedeke

Great fast trail that flows extremely well! You can tell it is a Progressive designed and built trail!

Jan 15, 2018

Brigitte Flanagan

Dec 22, 2017

Xavier Estala

Nov 2, 2017

Kassidy Staren

Jul 1, 2017

Molly Norman

5.4mi

Jun 10, 2017

Tom Pihl

Desperado both ways plus others 8.3mi

Jun 4, 2017

Tom Pihl

Desperado and other loops at Sweetwater 6.5mi

Apr 30, 2017

Laura Bricklin

Jan 2, 2017

Ed Mason

Nov 17, 2016

Randi Lui

Oct 1, 2016

Mark Chiappetta

Sep 3, 2016

Karl Phelps

Apr 9, 2016

Justin Hunt

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Desperado Loop

“A nice, non-technical, flowing section, great for a warm-up or an awesome finish to a longer ride. ”

3.6

5.8

2,561' 781 m

2,405' 733 m

231' 70 m

175' 53 m

2%

7%

Toolbox

Know This Trail?

Dogs Leashed

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Family Friendly Not too technical so it's a great beginner section that gets you into the nice desert area.

Description

Contacts

Shared By:

Trail Ratings

#1

#90

#1

#5

#90

Photos

4 Comments

Comment Type:

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

Check-Ins

Nearby Recommended Routes

Tucson Mountain Park Loop

Robles Loop from Genser Trailhead

Honeybee Canyon + Ridgeline Bigger Loop

Golder Ranch Trail System

Full Lemmon Drop

Lemmon Drop

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