If a cross-country road trip is on your bucket list, you’ll be delighted to know it can be done without ever leaving Arizona. Catalina Highway is under 30 miles long, yet features landscape diversity comparable to a drive from the Rio Grande to the U.S.-Canada border.

General Hitchcock Highway, more commonly known as Catalina Highway, is a 27-mile route that climbs from the desert floor in Tucson to the near-summit of Mount Lemmon.

Wikimedia Commons / AJ Yorio lightninghorse In the road’s short distance, it gains a whopping 6,000 feet of elevation.

Such a rapid ascent lends itself to some truly phenomenal landscape diversity.

Wikimedia Commons / Debbie Kriegel In fact, you’ll drive through an entire continent’s worth of terrain in just 90 minutes!

Your adventure begins on Tanque Verde Road in Tucson, and the first few miles consist of typical Sonoran Desert ecology.

Wikimedia Commons / WClarke Subtle shifts in vegetation begin to occur as you wind up the Santa Catalina Mountains, such as fewer Saguaros and more scrub brush.

About 18 miles in, the rugged desert landscape becomes a distant memory as ponderosa pines begin lining the roadway.

Wikimedia Commons / Joekoz451 Lush, evergreen woodlands soon give way to the towering, whimsical aspens that categorize the Flagstaff area.

In little more than the blink of an eye, you’ve gone from lowland desert to alpine forest, with several other ecosystems in-between.

Wikimedia Commons / Ivgotit It’s the equivalent of traveling from the Rio Grande to the U.S.-Canada border!

The highway ends at Summerhaven, a charming mountain community.

Wikimedia Commons / Philcomanforterie Stop by Cookie Cabin, pictured here, for a hearty meal. Oh, and bundle up—it may very well be 30 degrees cooler than when you got in the car.

If the drive is a little too short for your liking, there are several scenic overlooks where you can pull off.

Wikimedia Commons / Nelo Hotsuma from Rockwall The first one you’ll encounter is Windy Point, which offers sweeping panoramic vistas of Tucson. Others are sprinkled along the drive, but none quite compare in vastness or magnificence.

Visit the U.S. Forest Service website to learn more about the highway.

Wikimedia Commons / AJ Yorio lightninghorse

In the road’s short distance, it gains a whopping 6,000 feet of elevation.

Wikimedia Commons / Debbie Kriegel

In fact, you’ll drive through an entire continent’s worth of terrain in just 90 minutes!

Wikimedia Commons / WClarke

Subtle shifts in vegetation begin to occur as you wind up the Santa Catalina Mountains, such as fewer Saguaros and more scrub brush.

Wikimedia Commons / Joekoz451

Lush, evergreen woodlands soon give way to the towering, whimsical aspens that categorize the Flagstaff area.

Wikimedia Commons / Ivgotit

It’s the equivalent of traveling from the Rio Grande to the U.S.-Canada border!

Wikimedia Commons / Philcomanforterie

Stop by Cookie Cabin, pictured here, for a hearty meal. Oh, and bundle up—it may very well be 30 degrees cooler than when you got in the car.

Wikimedia Commons / Nelo Hotsuma from Rockwall

The first one you’ll encounter is Windy Point, which offers sweeping panoramic vistas of Tucson. Others are sprinkled along the drive, but none quite compare in vastness or magnificence.

Have you ever driven Catalina Highway? If so, which landscape is your favorite? Let us know in the comments, and check out our previous article for an epic natural wonder tucked away in Arizona’s higher elevations.

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.

Address: Catalina Highway, Catalina Hwy, Arizona, USA