While staying at nearby Ironwood Forest National Monument, we made several trips into Saguaro National Park to do some hiking. The park is named for the large saguaro cactus, native to its desert environment. The giant saguaro is the universal symbol of the American west. I learned that I’ve been pronouncing it wrong. It’s actually Sa-WAH-ro. The saguaro is the nation’s largest cactus and only grows in the Sonoran Desert. Saguaro National Park, to the east and west of Tucson, AZ is the protector of these majestic plants.
Saguaro National Park has two sections on either side of the city of Tucson. The western side, also known as the Tucson Mountain District, has a denser population of saguaro. The eastern park, the Rincon Mountain District, has a lower saguaro population but the Rincon Mountains provide a great backdrop for photography. There are lots of easy hikes and scenic drives and you can hit the highlights in half a day. Both sides have a visitor’s center so make sure to stop by and talk to a ranger to get a good idea what you want to see during whatever time you decide to spend at the parks.
The Western Park
Hiking
The west side of the park has over 165 miles of hiking trails, making it hard to chose which trails to hike in our limited time. The longer, more difficult trails didn’t make the cut because – well, we’re old and decrepit. But there are plenty of scenic, shorter hikes, starting with…
Signal Hill
The Signal Hill Trail begins at the Signal Hill Picnic Area, found along the scenic Bajada Loop Drive. The trail leads to an area with dozens of examples of the 800-year-old Hohokam petroglyphs etched into large stones. If you’re not into hiking, the petroglyphs are easily accessible up the short trail.
We continued our hike along the Cactus Wren trail and looped back on the Mannville Trail. It’s a flat, easy 3-plus mile hike through the desert landscape with the Tucson Mountains as a backdrop.
Ringtail Trail/Ironwood Forest Loop
The scenic drive along Picture Rocks Road through the park is worth the effort on its own. But at the northern end of the west park on Picture Rocks Road is a small parking area leading to a variety of trails, accessed from across the road. You can combine any number of these trails to make a hike as long or as short as you like. We took the Ringtail and Ironwood trails and made a loop of a little over 3 miles. The Ringtail Trail wraps around the base of a peak ( I tried to find the name but couldn’t) and through a beautiful desert landscape. The peak could still be seen as we looped back around along the Ironwood Forest Trail. This hike was much more interesting than the Cactus Wren/Mannville Trails.
On the same side as the parking lot is an unofficial trail which passes about half a mile through a very pretty pass to a larger wash. The pass is well worth the effort. The wash, not so much.
Vertical Cliffs
Access to the Vertical Cliffs Trail is found at the end of Belmont Rd. You can get to it from the Ringtail Trail, as well, but that’s a long hike we weren’t prepared to make. Again, you can hike a variety of loops from 1 to 14 miles along a series of trails that go between and over a series of lower hills. The first part meanders through a picturesque Sonoran Desert landscape with various cacti and fauna and the Tucson Mountains in the distance.
A little over a half mile in, you begin to see a series of – you guessed it – vertical cliffs.
A Beautiful red-tailed hawk soared over head for a few moments along the hike, probably trying to decide if we were edible, before circling off to find something better.
King Canyon Trail
The King Canyon Trail is the most direct route to Wasson Peak, the highest point in The Tucson Mountains. There are two options at the beginning. You can hike up through the canyon wash or take the trail along the rim of the canyon. The wash has some petroglyphs on the canyon walls. If we had known this before the hike, we would have either gone up the wash or come back through the wash. Instead, we thought walking through the loose sediment of the wash would be more difficult so we chose the canyon rim. The beginning of this trail is actually a old, rocky mining road constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The trail has a pretty steady, moderate incline until you reach the Mam-a-Gah picnic area and an abandoned rest room at .9 miles. There are several stone picnic tables and a couple fireplaces with grills here with some dramatic views overlooking the canyon. We might have to come back to hike the wash and have lunch at the picnic area.
From here, the trail gets a little steeper until intersecting with the Sweetwater Trail after 1.4 miles, which was our goal. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it that far. We got close but the trail was getting steeper than we could handle (we are old and out of shape, after all) so we turned around and headed back down along the same route. We still experienced some spectacular views and is our favorite of all the trails we’ve done.
The Eastern Park
Cactus Forest Loop Drive
The Cactus Forest Loop Drive is a paved, 8 mile loop through the cactus forest in the eastern park. There are plenty of turnouts to stop and grab a photo or two and several trailhead access points along the way. The drive is very popular with cyclists due to the low speed limit, one way traffic (you have to drive it in a clockwise direction), and all the elevation changes. Weekends are especially busy.
Hiking
Mica View Trail
Starting at the Mica View Picnic Area, there is access to several trails and you can design a hike of varying lengths and difficulty. As the name would suggest, you get a good view of Mica Peak, the highest point in the park, from here. We did a 2 mile loop by going out on the Mica View Trail and coming back along the Cactus Forest Trail. We kept it short due to the fact we left our CamelBak at the trailer and it was a fairly warm (for us, anyway) 82 degrees. This was probably the most scenic of our hikes due to the backdrop of the mountains.
Javelina Rocks
Javelina Rocks Trail is just before you get to the end of the Cactus Forest Loop Drive. The trail is a short loop from the picnic area – probably less than a mile so if you’re sapped of energy, this might be for you. Of course, the rocks are more fun to climb on than the actual hike. And they’re right nest to the picnic area so you don’t have to walk far to get to them.
Camping in Saguaro
There is no vehicle camping areas in Saguaro National Park but there are six back country camping areas in the Saguaro Wilderness area. Located in the Rincon Valley, this is the last roadless mountain range in southern Arizona. For the more adventurous outdoors people, just load up your backpack and hike on in to about 100,000 protected acres of solitude. Camp sites are first come, first served and a permit is required. In my younger years. . . .
A Couple Things Before You Go. . .
There are a couple things to remember when hiking in Saguaro National Park. The first is to have plenty of water even if it’s just a short hike. Take twice as much as you think you need. You dehydrate much quicker than you think out here in the dry desert air.
The second thing to be aware of is that any trail that includes the term ‘wash’ in the name will be a little more exerting than normal. That’s because a wash is where the water runs after a rain, depositing loose sediment on it’s way through. Hiking a wash is like walking in loose sand on the beach.
The third thing to be mindful of on the trails is horse ‘things’. There are several local stables that offer horseback rides through Saguaro National Park. That would be a great way to explore the park and feel like a real cowboy however, they do leave ‘evidence’ of their rides. Watch where you step.
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