Tucson clears out 100-Acre Wood homeless encampment

Tucson’s long-running homeless encampment was largely emptied Tuesday in preparation for the construction of new bike park later this year.

City officials announced they would begin clearing the park earlier this month to begin work on the 100-Acre Wood Bike Park, turning the triangular stretch of desert on the East Side into a “premier mountain bike park and recreation destination.” 

For the last several years, the area has become the largest homeless encampment in the city, as people living there have established ad-hoc living spaces with large blue tarps, portable canopies, personal belongings and bric-a-brac.

Owned by the neighboring Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the land is
leased to the city, and the bike park’s original trails — about 7 miles of
mountain bike routes — were built in 2019 by volunteers with Sonoran Desert Mountain Bicyclists.

Over the last 19 months, city officials have worked to empty the encampment. In May 2024, the city cleared a section of the park
to make way for testing for the chemical PFAS, removing about nine
people from their camp sites tucked in a copse of trees along the
triangle of desert near South Alvernon Way and East Golf Links Road. In
March, the city cleared  another section.

In July, city officials launched a full-court press to encourage the remaining group of people to leave the area. Led by the city’s Housing and Community
Development Department and joined by the Tucson Pima
Collaboration to End Homelessness, local service
providers conducted “comprehensive outreach and transition efforts with
individuals previously encamped on the site,” officials said.

This included outreach teams from Community Bridges Inc., Old Pueblo
Community Services, Primavera Foundation, and El Rio Community
Clinic who repeatedly visited those living at 100-Acre Wood attempting to convince people to leave the property by connecting them to shelter, medical care and other services.

In the following weeks, roughly 78 households agreed to some services, said Andy Squire, a Tucson city spokesman.

But despite this effort, roughly 40 people were at the camp even as the construction deadline loomed, said Justin Hamilton, the city’s multi-agency resource coordinator.

“This is all hands on deck,” Hamilton said. “We’re hoping to get people out of this situation and get them the help they need. This takes a lot of effort.”

Squire said city and county officials engaged with 30 people on Tuesday, while 10 people decided to leave without speaking to government representatives.

Of those, 17 people agreed to take shelter—including six people who were given keys to apartments, four people who went to stay at the Gospel Rescue Mission, and two who went to the Amphi no-barrier shelter managed by Old Pueblo at a decommissioned fire station.

Four more people asked to go to detox for substance abuse treatment, and one person went to STAR Village — the city’s newly established sanctioned homeless encampment, Squire said.

Hamilton said while the city and county have been pushing people to leave 100-Acre Wood for months, there’s been a constant inflow and outflow at the camp driven in part by a “nexus” of criminal behavior that includes the market for drugs. People also arrive to the space because that’s where services are available, he said.

After the site is cleared, Hamilton said city and county officials, along with Tucson police officers, will check on the area and immediately trespass anyone in the closed park for the next 30 to 60 days. He added they will also work to keep people from just settling nearby, including patrolling Alvernon Heights, the neighborhood to the north.

“There’s a lot of stigma attached to being here,” Hamilton said.

As people left, garbage trucks, earth movers, and other vehicles rolled in and began deconstructing the camp. Along with city and county vehicles, contractors hauled out dozens of shopping carts, while dump trucks with the Arizona Department of Transportation hauled out trash.

City officials said that in recent months, they are conducting 500 clean-ups per month using four full-time crews. Most of the clean-ups involve small camps, and abandoned belongings. 

Squire said the effort removed about 296 tons of material from 100-Acre Wood, including personal belongings, a collection of broken down vehicles— a golf cart, a small trailer made from the bed of an old F-150 and two disassembled ATVs—and some of the soil which has been contaminated by oil, fuel and human waste.

Environmental Services will continue cleanup, and construction is expected to ramp up by Monday, Dec. 8, city official said.

During this week’s push by officials, Bridgett Marie and Tanisha — who both asked not to give their last names — struggled to move stacked shopping carts stuffed with their belongings. 

As she strained at the weight, Bridgett sobbed because she was worried about the kittens she left in her tent. Multiple city officials told her the cats, along with a litter of puppies and a desert tortoise, were found by volunteers with Pima Animal Care Center, but Bridgett remained unconvinced.

As she worked, a skinny but loyal St. Bernard dog stayed close to her. 

Tanisha said she didn’t know the camp would be cleared on Tuesday, despite the weeks of outreach by city and county officials, and new signs warning the park was closed that were installed two weeks earlier.

Nearby, Jose Gomez and his father pushed plastic totes full of personal items over a dirt berm along South Alvernon Way. Gomez said he was given a room, but would have to wait until Monday because he has a serious mental illness. He said he had some tools to sell, including a large grinder and a
welding machine—and hoped they could cobble enough cash for a hotel
room.

“You know, everyone says they’ll help,” Gomez said. “But, look at us, we’re alone. It’s just me and my dad.”