We were in Arizona for our spring break. We were staying in Tucson and the day before this hike had visited Old Tucson, which is an movie set turned amusement park where hundreds of western movies have been filmed throughout the years. While at Old Tucson, Golden Gate Mountain really caught our eye as it rose up sharply town and desert.

During a guided tour of some of the buildings, the tour guide mentioned that Golden Gate Mountain had been in over 175 movies, ranging from John Wayne films in the 50s to Tombstone to even Cannonball Run 2.

My wife normally goes with the flow and lets me pick what mountain we climb. However, Golden Gate Mountain really captured her interest also. So we changed plans from a previous hike and decided Golden Gate was on the menu.

After visiting the Tucson Botanical Gardens and the Degrazia Gallery, we drove out near Gates Pass and parked for our trip up Golden Gate Mountain.

The initial hiking is on a good trail which leads to 3182 foot saddle between Golden Gate Mountain and Bren BM. Here we were supposed to find a use trail that led up a gully on the east side of Golden Gate Mountain. We thought we had found it, but it dead-ended. Oh well, the terrain was not bad so we continued up. Not more than 5 minutes from the trail, I started crossing a dry creek bed and was buzzed by a Black Tail Rattlesnake. My wife joined me and we discussed maybe we should discontinue our hiking plans as we had a long way to go. She told me to keep moving, so I did with even a added focus on the ground (in addition to my typical caution).

Not more than 5 minutes later, she told me to hold up. She had kicked up a piece of Jumping Cholla (Teddy Bear Cholla) with her boot and it had attached to her inner thigh. This is nasty stuff found all over the desert and it has little tricks (like barbs on the spines) to help it stay stuck to you. So after some work to get out the spines, I told her it was time to head down. She told me no... she was climbing this peak! To watch a video on Jumping Cholla, click here.

I was a little stressed, route finding, cactus avoiding, seeing a snake behind every rock; when we suddenly hit the cairned use trail. Once on the trail the going was much easier since the trail avoided cacti and gave me a clearing to spot snakes better.

We made good time once we were on the trail and eventually popped out in an extremely neat area high on the mountain that led to the summit ridge. The summit was 5 minutes away and offered incredible views in all directions.

I have to credit my wife... she pushed on despite the cactus, snake, and sore legs.

Follow directions to Gates Pass. After you reach Gates Pass, the road drops. The trail starts in the paved lot found on the left side of the road. There is adequate parking for about 15 vehicles in the lot.

From the parking lot below Gates Pass, we hiked south on a good trail to the 3182 foot saddle between Golden Gate Mountain and Bren BM. The use trail to the top of the peak actually starts just downhill and past the saddle. This heavily cairned route follows the prominent drainage on the east side of the peak.