Sky Island Parkway Sky Island Parkway
Sky Island Parkway is a State Scenic Byway in Arizona. Within Arizona it covers roughly 25 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Sky Island Parkway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
The Catalina Highway climbs from the saguaro desert outside Tucson to the pine forests atop Mount Lemmon, gaining over 6,000 feet in about 25 miles. The ascent passes through a stack of life zones — biologists liken driving it to traveling from Mexico to Canada — past sculpted granite hoodoos at Windy Point. At the top sits Summerhaven and the southernmost ski area in the United States.
- Mount Lemmon
- 6,000+ ft of climb
- Windy Point hoodoos
- desert-to-forest life zones
- Tucson
Plan a drive on Sky Island Parkway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.