This is a five stage Wherigo, plus the final container. It covers 0.6 miles of trail at a fairly steep and slow slope, depending on what you call steep and what you call slow. It should take less than an hour round trip in any case, depending on what kind of shape you are in. See TERRAIN note below.
Click here to go to the cartridge.
TERRAIN note: The distance from trail head to the top is 1.3 miles. This Wherigo includes the first 0.6 miles. If you are in good shape and hike regularly, the terrain rating is probably a 2.0. If you are not a person who exercises regularly then the terrain rating is about a 3.5 to 4.0, as the trail is very steep in many places and just plain steep in most. I rated this as a 1 terrain because it is a paved path and technically is wheelchair accessible all the way to the top of the hill. However, a person in a wheelchair will need help at the final location for safety reasons.
At the peak of the hill there is a virtual cache, amazing views and an observatory that is not open to the public. So Tumamoc Hill has a virtual, a traditional, a puzzle, a multicache and soon to have an earth cache.
Whenever hiking in Arizona bring water, hat and wear sunscreen. Keep an eye out for prickly things and things that sting, bite, or slither and rattle.
Tumamoc Hill hiking trail his is a paved road leading into the research area and 860 acre nature preserve on Tumamoc Hill. Many people use this trail as a major workout and come barreling up or down past you and others stroll along and take their time. Researchers may drive by so please step completely off the tar to let them pass.
Dogs are not allowed and there is an outdoor water fountain (full of wasps in the summer) and a porta-potty about halfway up the trail. There is parallel parking along Anklam Rd. If you park in hospital or medical office parking lots there is a risk of your car being towed. There are iron bike rack posts at the base to lock your bike.
Do not leave valuables in your car and certainly do not leave anything that looks like a wallet or purse visible. Lock your purse in your trunk before you arrive as I get the feeling you are being observed as you get out of your car in some cases.
Park hours: open 4 AM to 10 PM. During business hours step off the road for researchers passing by in their cars.
TERRAIN note: The distance to the top is 1.3 miles. If you are in good shape and hike regularly, the terrain rating is probably a 2.0. If you are not a person who exercises regularly then the terrain rating is about a 4.5, as the trail is very steep in many places and just plain steep in most. I rated this as a 1 terrain because it is a paved path and technically is wheelchair accessible all the way to the top of the hill.
There is a Tumamoc Tour app that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or other app store. There are also lots of informational plaquards posted all along the path.
Tumamoc Hill is an 860-acre ecological reserve at the edge of downtown Tucson, Arizona owned and operated by the University of Arizona College of Science in partnership with Pima County. A large swath of beautiful Sonoran Desert in the heart of a city with over a 100 years of intensive science, Tumamoc Hill is ecology; a site of community gathering; conservation; art; archaeology; history. Tumamoc is an active research center where multiple approaches come together to better understand the Sonoran Desert and arid environments. (Reference: https://tumamoc.arizona.edu/)
Click here to go to the Tumamoc web page.
New to Wherigos?
Wherigo FAQs Here is a play anywhere Wherigo tutorial. And Wherigo forums are the best place to find information about WIGs and your device.
Here are some quick tips:
Wherigos seem to work better on smart phones than on GPS devices.
To play the Wherigo, you will need a Wherigo-enabled device. (For Andriod the app is called "WhereYouGo") info here First upload the Wherigo application to your device, then download the cartridge you want to play from the Wherigo web site, using the app. There is a link to this cartridge above.
As with all Wherigos, make sure you have uploaded the most recent version of the cartridge before you go. COs sometimes make changes to the cartridge and if you have the older version you will have glitches when you go to use it. So just upload it again just before you plan to go.
While using the cartridge, if you are at a zone and there is a glitch of some kind, step 30 feet away and try to enter the zone again. (Wherigo dictates the zones are only 10 feet around.) All zones/ locations are located on public property.
Save frequently during cartridge use.
Choose times of low traffic. Bring paper and pencil to jot down completion code (or take a screen shot) and to sign the log at the final.
Unique to Wherigos, there are two places to log them once found. Post a find on geocaching.com as usual. Groundspeak created another web site just for Wherigos: http://wherigo.com. Note there are no GC codes on this site; you have to do a search by area. To log this cache on Wherigo.com, go to the cache web page and click on the key icon, and enter your completion code. The cartridge will give you this code after the very last stop of the cartridge. Be ready as it is only given once!
FTF: RS Arizona! STF: Team2002 and tugies!
Thanks again to Ranger Fox for his easy-to-use Wherigo kit! RF WIG kit
References: http://tumamocsketchbook.com/2014/12/the-mother-of-tumamoc.html, https://tumamoc.arizona.edu, https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Saguaro%20Cactus.php