Residents Raised $1.8 Million to Buy a Closed Golf Course. Walking It Is Free.
Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve in Oro Valley: 202 acres of former golf course, 6.2 miles of paved path, no fee, and a pond now under construction.
The golf course shut in June 2018. Four years later Oro Valley held the deed to 202 acres, under an easement an outside nonprofit is obligated to enforce — and the pond is now a fenced construction site.
A residents' campaign raised $1.8 million toward buying 202 acres of closed golf course in north Oro Valley, and a national land trust did the buying. Walking on it costs nothing. Park at 945 West Vistoso Highlands Drive and the trail starts at the edge of the lot: eight feet of poured concrete, already in place when the town took the property, running 6.2 miles. No gate, no fee booth, nobody on duty. The Catalinas sit on one side of the loop and the Tortolitas on the other, and for long stretches the nearest structure is a back wall in Rancho Vistoso.
- 202 acres
- What Oro Valley took title to on July 8, 2022
- 6.2 miles
- The existing eight-foot-wide concrete path, per the town
- $1.8M
- Raised by Preserve Vistoso members toward the purchase
- $461,399
- Added by Council on April 8, 2026, after the low pond bid ran over budget
June 2018 to a July 2022 Deed
The golf course closed in June 2018, leaving 202 recreationally zoned acres threaded between occupied streets. Preserve Vistoso, the residents' group, is who raised the $1.8 million. The Conservation Fund, the national nonprofit, closed on the property in February 2022, placed it under a conservation easement in perpetuity, and donated it to the Town of Oro Valley on July 8, 2022. A separate parcel of roughly six acres, zoned for high-density residential, was never part of that deal. The name came out of a public contest: more than 1,500 submissions, about 500 residents voting in round two, three finalists, and a Council vote on May 18, 2022.
What Is Actually on the Ground
This is a preserve rather than a park, and the amenity list says so. The concrete path is the entire trail system; the town's description leads with the two mountain ranges, the vegetation and the wildlife. Two restrooms were unlocked in 2024, ten benches went in during May 2025, and dog-leash signage was installed at multiple locations in spring 2026. Native American petroglyphs are on the property — The Conservation Fund listed them among the reasons the ground was worth buying — and they carry no signage, which is the right treatment.
- The Path (6.2 miles, 8 feet wide, Concrete): Still the only trail here. Eight feet is wide enough to walk two abreast or let a bike pass, and it goes under the larger roads rather than across them.
- Parking (945 W. Vistoso Highlands Dr., Temporary, No fee): The town calls the lot temporary, and Council has asked the consultant what minimal parking the site needs. It is the marked access point.
- The Detour (Since August 4, 2026, Signed): The trail beside the pond project is fenced off for construction. Detour signs are posted; the rest of the loop is open.
- The Restoration ($2M allocation, Invasive species): Buffelgrass and fountain grass removal ran on a $20,000 state forestry grant with a $2,250 town match. Volunteer pulls have taken Russian thistle off the old holes.
The Pond Went to Construction in August
The course's pond has been dry since 2018. Council settled on a 2.5-acre pond filled with reclaimed water, designed by consultant Kimley-Horn inside a Desert Ecosystem Restoration Project carrying a $2 million allocation. Sealed bids were due March 20, 2026; the low bid exceeded the remaining budget, and on April 8 Council approved another $461,399 from the General Fund Contingency Account. Construction began in August, and the trail nearest the work has been fenced since August 4. Arizona Public Media reported the pond as eight feet deep, costing more than $2 million, with completion targeted for November 2026. An Arizona State Parks grant the town accepted in August 2025 — $144,500 against an $8,734.36 town match — is going toward ADA trails in the same area, a figure Council's May 2026 direction put at $136,210.
The Easement Holder Says Not With That Water
Archaeology Southwest holds the conservation easement on the 202.05 acres, so the town's plans run past a third party with standing. On March 2, 2026 the nonprofit served the town a formal notice, and on March 19 published an open letter arguing that reclaimed water breaches the easement's express prohibition on storing, dumping or disposing of hazardous or toxic substances — the substances at issue being PFAS. Arizona Public Media reported that pond-bottom soil samples tested above safe contact standards for those compounds, that Council approved the design in September 2025 on a 4-2 vote, and that the town holds its permits and says the EPA and ADEQ do not currently require permits for PFAS soil remediation. The easement puts the nonprofit's enforcement costs on the town, so the disagreement carries a bill either way.
Quick reference (September 18, 2026): Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve, 955 W. Vistoso Highlands Dr., Tucson 85755; temporary parking at 945 W. Vistoso Highlands Dr. Dawn to dusk, no fee, 6.2 miles of concrete path, two restrooms, dogs on leash, signed detour at the pond. Oro Valley sets the hours and rules and has changed them before.
What a Rancho Vistoso Buyer Is Actually Looking At
The walk is the smaller half of this. The larger half is that 202 acres running between and behind occupied streets are held under a recorded easement in perpetuity, with an outside nonprofit obligated to enforce it and the town paying for that enforcement. That is a different thing from open space a town simply owns and could later rezone, and the six-acre residential parcel carved out of the purchase marks where the protection stops. So if a house's back wall faces the old course, what sits behind it is preserve land — with a weed program, a contested pond, and a resolution prepared for a September Council meeting seeking approval to apply for a federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant for amenities here. None of it appears in a listing field.
Sources
Town of Oro Valley — "Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve" — orovalleyaz.gov/Government/Departments/Parks-and-Recreation/Parks/Vistoso-Trails-Nature-Preserve — accessed September 18, 2026 (for the 6.2-mile, eight-foot-wide concrete path; the views of the Catalina and Tortolita mountains; the dawn-to-dusk hours; the 955 W. Vistoso Highlands Dr. address and the temporary parking at 945 W. Vistoso Highlands Dr.; Kimley-Horn as the Desert Ecosystem Restoration Project consultant and the $2,000,000 allocation; the 2.5-acre reclaimed-water pond concept; the March 20, 2026 sealed-bid deadline at 1:30 p.m. and the February 17 pre-bid meeting; the low bid exceeding the remaining budget and Council's April 8, 2026 approval of an additional $461,399 from the General Fund Contingency Account; construction beginning in August and the trail near the pond being fenced with detour signs from August 4; the September 2026 note that construction meetings continue and that staff prepared a resolution for a September Council meeting seeking approval to apply for a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant; the August 13, 2025 acceptance of a $144,500 Arizona State Parks grant with a $8,734.36 town match for path repair, an ADA compacted decomposed granite trail and signage, and the May 2026 direction to use those grant funds for ADA trails in the pond area; the two restrooms unlocked for public use in 2024; the ten benches installed in May 2025; the dog-leash signage installed at multiple locations in spring 2026; the $20,000 Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management invasives grant with a $2,250 town match for buffelgrass and fountain grass removal; and the volunteer Russian thistle pull on two of the old holes).
The Conservation Fund — "Preserving Open Space in Arizona's Oro Valley" — conservationfund.org/our-impact/projects/preserving-the-former-vistoso-golf-course-in-oro-valley-arizona/ — accessed September 18, 2026 (for the 202 acres acquired and preserved, the separate parcel of about six acres zoned for high-density residential that was sold on its own, the golf course closing in 2018, the more than six miles of paved trail already in place, the three restrooms, the trail underpasses at major roads, and the Native American petroglyphs on the property).
Preserve Vistoso — "Background" — preservevistoso.org/background — accessed September 18, 2026 (for the golf course closing in June 2018; the 202 recreationally zoned acres and the separate 6.3 acres zoned high-density residential; the $1.8 million raised by Preserve Vistoso members; The Conservation Fund closing on the property in February 2022 and placing it under a conservation easement in perpetuity; and the donation to the Town of Oro Valley on July 8, 2022).
Town of Oro Valley — "Winner announced for contest to rename former Vistoso Golf Course" — orovalleyaz.gov/Government/News — accessed September 18, 2026 (for the naming contest's more than 1,500 submissions, the roughly 500 residents who voted in the second round, and the Town Council vote on May 18 adopting Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve as the official name).
Archaeology Southwest — "Open Letter to Town of Oro Valley Residents," March 19, 2026 — archaeologysouthwest.org/2026/03/19/open-letter-to-town-of-oro-valley-residents/ — accessed September 18, 2026 (for Archaeology Southwest holding the conservation easement on the 202.05-acre preserve; the notice served on the Town of Oro Valley on March 2, 2026; the easement's mandate to protect the property's natural, scenic, open space, historical, biological, cultural and recreational values; its express prohibition on the storage, dumping or other disposal of any hazardous or toxic substance regulated under federal, state or local law; the objection to filling the 2.5-acre pond with PFAS-bearing reclaimed water; and the easement's placement of the nonprofit's enforcement costs, expenses and reasonable attorney fees on the town).
Arizona Public Media — "Conservation group decries Oro Valley's plan to use reclaimed wastewater to refill the town's landmark pond," August 13, 2026 — news.azpm.org/p/news-articles/2026/8/13/230832-conservation-group-decries-oro-valleys-plan-to-use-reclaimed-wastewater-to-refill-the-towns-landmark-pond/ — accessed September 18, 2026 (for the 2.5-acre, eight-foot-deep pond; the reclaimed-water source; the projected cost of more than $2 million; construction beginning in August 2026 with completion targeted for November 2026; the pond-bottom soil samples testing above safe contact standards for PFAS; the Council's September 2025 approval of the pond design on a 4-2 vote; and the town's statements that permits were obtained and that the EPA and ADEQ do not currently require permits related to PFAS soil remediation).
All details are current as of September 18, 2026; preserve hours, parking, trail closures, construction schedules and town rules change, so confirm current information with the Town of Oro Valley before relying on any single figure. This post is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase real estate. Kyle Berglund and Tierra Antigua Realty fully support and comply with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.
Topics
- Hidden Gems
- Vistoso Trails Nature Preserve
- Oro Valley
- Rancho Vistoso
- Vistoso Highlands
- Open Space
- Conservation Easement
- Hiking
- Northwest Tucson