Willow Canyon, Arizona
24 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1904 and the latest in 1996. It stands in the Tucson census division. It lies in ZIP code area 85619. It lies near Lizard Rock. The Survey maps it on the Mount Bigelow quadrangle. 2 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 6,972 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresWillow Canyon grew from 1 to 2 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1 | |
| 2020 | 2 | +1 (+100%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 24 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1904 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:125000
- 1905 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:125000, 5 printings
- 1956 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1957 USGS Bellota Ranch quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1958 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Mount Bigelow quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1994 USGS Tucson quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1996 USGS Mount Bigelow quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
489 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 489 fires within 5 miles of Willow Canyon between 1992 and 2020, burning about 29,702 acres in total. 202 started naturally. 18 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 202 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 174 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 57 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 18 |
| Smoking | 13 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 10 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 1997 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Coronado National Forest | DITCH |
| 9 September 1995 | Natural | under an acre | Coronado National Forest | PECK |
| 9 September 1995 | Natural | under an acre | Coronado National Forest | DAVIS |
| 7 September 2009 | Natural | under an acre | Coronado National Forest | ALDER |
| 7 September 1995 | Natural | 1.5 acres | Coronado National Forest | GUTHRIE II |
| 6 September 2012 | Natural | under an acre | Coronado National Forest | ALDER |
| 6 September 1996 | Natural | under an acre | Coronado National Forest | SCOUT |
| 6 September 1993 | Natural | under an acre | Coronado National Forest | LABOR |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Willow Canyon: 2 past producers, 2 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Copper, Silver, Mica, Gold, Lead, Silver, Copper. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucky Lou | Copper, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Mica Mine | Mica | Occurrence | ||
| Single Jack Nos 1and 2 | Gold, Lead, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Prospect Ml107 | Copper | Occurrence | Unknown |
Storms near this place
13 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Willow Canyon in 13 storm reports between 2008 and 2024: 8 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Willow Canyon | $100,000 | A line of thunderstorms moved southwest pushing strong winds out ahead of it through Redington Pass and into the Tucson Metro. Wind gusts of 60 to 65 mph caused sporadic damage. Ten power poles and several trees were knocked down near Camino Seco and Escalante Rd. Over 19,000 customers were without power for a short time. Additionally, a carport was damaged near Escalante Rd and Prudence Rd, and a tree fell on a home on Rickey Vista in South Tucson. |
| August 2022 | Flash Flood | Willow Canyon | $25,000 | Heavy rain of 2-3 at the headwaters of Sabino Creek and Bear Canyon caused rapid rises in both streams. Flash flooding occurred at the Sabino Canyon Recreation area causing damage to trails and flooding of all recreation area bridges. Twenty five people became stranded in Bear Canyon and needed to be rescued as trails across the wash were flowing heavily and dangerously impassable. No injuries were reported. |
| August 2022 | Flash Flood | Willow Canyon | $10,000 | Two periods of heavy rain, each of 1 across much of the watershed, which was part of the Bighorn Fire burn scar, caused Sabino Creek to overtop bridges at the Sabino Canyon Recreation area. Some hiking trails, which were affected by high flows earlier in the month, sustained additional damage. |
| July 2018 | Heavy Rain | Willow Canyon | $3,000 | Heavy rain caused a motorcycle accident on Mt. Lemmon Highway near mile post 4. |
| July 2024 | Flash Flood | Willow Canyon | $1,000 | Reports of flash flooding northeast side of Tucson included the following:|1) Tanque Verde Loop Road south of Linden Street at the Tanque Verde Creek.|2) Redington Road near Canyon del Salto Wash. |
| October 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Willow Canyon | - | Scout Camp RAWS measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 60 mph. |
| July 2021 | Flash Flood | Willow Canyon | - | Heavy rain of 2.5 in less than 1 hour at the headwaters of Tanque Verde Creek caused rapid rises of over three feet in Tanque Verde Creek downstream before the channel widens out. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Willow Canyon | - | Scout Camp RAWS measured a thunderstorm wind gust to 64 mph. |
| August 2017 | Flash Flood | Willow Canyon | - | Three people were trapped at Tanque Verde Falls and unable to cross the wash to exit the area due to a rapid increase in water levels. |
| July 2017 | Flash Flood | Willow Canyon | - | Between 1 and 1.5 inches of rain on the Burro Fire burn scar caused flash flooding near Rose Canyon and Scout Ranch. |
| August 2015 | Flash Flood | Willow Canyon | - | Persistent showers and thunderstorms caused to up to 2 inches of rain in the Redington Pass area, including the Tanque Verde and Agua Caliente Washes. Redington Pass Road became flooded and impassible. |
| July 2013 | Hail | Willow Canyon | - | One inch diameter hail was reported at Rose Canyon Campground. |
| July 2008 | Flash Flood | Willow Canyon | - | Several swift water rescues occurred in the Tucson metro area including along Wentworth Road in Corona De Tucson and in Northeast Tucson. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitetail | 2.3 miles | 24 | |
| Soldier Camp | 3.5 miles | 24 | |
| Summerhaven | 4.7 miles | 23 | |
| Loma Linda | 5.1 miles | 23 | |
| Tanque Verde | 9.7 miles | 24 | |
| Skyline Bel Aire Estates | 11.2 miles | 26 | |
| Redington | 11.2 miles | 18 | |
| Indian Ridge Estates | 12.0 miles | 27 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Willow Canyon | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q28391 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 36223. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.










