Pop quiz: Name four different huckleberries.
- Huckleberry pie
- Huckleberry “Huck” Finn
- Huckleberry Hound
- The Huckelberry Loop
If that last one has you a bit flummoxed, let me introduce you to Chuck Huckelberry: a dedicated Arizona civil servant known for his environmental conservation, oversight of major infrastructure projects, and — most importantly — being the driving force behind the development of Tucson’s massive, shared-use trail system.
The Chuck Huckelberry Tucson Loop (also known simply as “The Loop”) was named in his honor. No portion of the 131-mile paved trail, which extends throughout Marana, Oro Valley, Tucson, South Tucson and unincorporated Pima County, is open to cars. Along the way, The Loop connects to parks, trails, bus and bike routes, schools, restaurants, lodging, shopping areas, entertainment and sports venues. The trail is so popular that local real estate agents have cited property values as being higher based on proximity to the system, while the surrounding area is often touted as the top U.S. retirement destination for cyclists.
“What I’ve discovered is that The Loop means many things to many people,” Tucsonan Maxwell Yanoff tells me. “On any given day you’re going to see runners, walkers, dog walkers, e-bike and mountain bike riders, unicycles, tandem and recumbent bikes. And for the most part, the differing groups get along…