Route Description
The Catalina Highway begins at its intersection with Tanque Verde Road in northeast Tucson, traversing the unincorporated community of Tanque Verde before crossing into the Coronado National Forest. At this point, the roadway officially becomes the General Hitchcock Highway (Arizona Forest Highway 39), although many maps reflect the common usage of "Catalina Highway" to refer to the entire roadway.
From the boundary with the National Forest, the highway takes a winding route through the Santa Catalina Mountains. Due to the rapid gain in elevation there are numerous switchbacks, but the road follows a generally northward direction until reaching Forest Road 9 and Rose Canyon Lake, after which it begins traveling in a generally northwestern direction to the village of Summerhaven.
The final segment of the road, sometimes signed as Ski Run Road, heads east to the Mount Lemmon Ski Valley and ultimately approaches its final terminus near the summit of Mount Lemmon.
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