The picture is unremarkable – rolling hills stretching towards the east side of the Santa Catalina Mountains on an overcast day – the remarkable thing is not the picture, but when and where it was taken… On a Friday in Oracle State Park!

Oracle State Park was, sadly, closed in 2009 due to budget cuts. It was re-opened in 2012 on weekends and this March finally re-opened full-time to the public.

I am very glad that the park is now open on weekdays – the north and east side of the Santa Catalina Mountians  can be surprisingly different from the more often visited south and west sides and Oracle State Park’s compact network of trails is one of the easiest ways to visit this landscape!