Saguaro National Park

saguaro NATIONAL PARK
...giant silhouette of a saguaro cactus...

The Park is located in ARIZONA.
The cactus grow to be between 20 and 50 feet tall.

The picturesque silhouette of a saguaro cactus against the brazen Sonoran Desert sunset is worth writing home about. This national park’s ecosystems include arid desert with river washes, mountains, desert scrubs, and grasslands, and at higher elevations mixed conifer forests.

Saguaro cacti are exclusively found in the Sonoran desert and are considered some of the largest and oldest cacti in the world. They grow to be between 20 and 50 feet tall and the average lifespan is 250 years.

Check out the vertical pleats on a saguaro, if they are widely set chances are the saguaro is well hydrated. They have the capacity to hold up to 2,000 lbs. of water! If the pleats look narrow and shadowed it’s possible the saguaro doesn’t have adequate water.

The beauty Behind a desert

COST	Admission is $10 per vehicle, $5 for individuals.

PETS	Pets are only allowed in developed areas, paved trails, and designated picnic areas.

OPEN	The park is open all year except Christmas Day.

FOOD SERVICES

There’s no food service in the park, so pack your own food and have a picnic at one of the five picnic areas.

FACILITIES

There are no campgrounds accessible by road in the Eastern District (Rincon Mountains), and no campgrounds at all in the Western part, where only backcountry camping is permitted (no RVs).

eastern and western districts

The park is separated into two districts about 30 miles apart, with the bustling city of Tuscan Square between them. The Eastern District lies at the foot of the Rincon mountain range and the Western District at the foot of the Tuscan mountain range. The Western District has the highest population of the enormous saguaro cacti, but the Eastern District boasts the tallest and oldest saguaros

drive

Each district has an 8-mile-loop scenic drive, the Western District loop is called Bajada Drive and the Eastern is Cactus Loops Drive.

tours

Tours in the summer are intermittent and dependent on the heat and flash flood events. Take a guided stroll through a desert wash to find the largest saguaros in the park while learning about desert history and the significance of the cacti.

FAMOUS TRAILS

The Rincon Mountain side of the park has Sky Island, which is the primary home for bears, cougars, and coati, as well as Hope Loop trail, a great equestrian route through the Tuscan Hills and Sonoran Desert; Cactus Forest Loop, brilliant for bikers.

The Desert Ecology Trail, a half-mile walk on a level and paved trail peppered with informational signs about the native flora and fauna. There are over 20 species of cacti in the Eastern District.

In the Signal Hill area of the Western District enjoy a picnic before you set off on the short and easy trail to get up close to hundreds of ancient Hohokam petroglyphs from circa 1500 CE—allow about 45 minutes for the walk.

Take a hike on the Valley View Overlook Trail to see some of the five surrounding mountain ranges and the Avra Valley.

when to go

97F / 100F
June - August

38F / 45F
November - March

July and August are prone to flash floods and extremely high temperatures so it’s recommended to choose another time of year to visit unless you're one of those rugged adventurer types. November through March enjoys a temperate climate between the 50’s and 60’s. Snow is a very rare occurrence on the below sea level desert floor.

who may meet you here?

Frequent inhabitants of the park include coyote, desert tortoise, jack rabbits, and Gambel’s quail. In the higher elevations of the Eastern District keep an eye out for black bears, roadrunners, javelins, whitetail deer, mountain king snakes, and the endangered Mexican spotted owl.

CURIOSITies

Each Saguaro produces over 40 million seeds in it’s lifetime but only two of these seeds become young saguaros.

The odds are against the survival of the species and yet they continue to persevere.

You’ll have to wait until April to see the famous Saguaro's get their flowers.

Hohokam (“were an ancient Native American culture centered on the present-day US state of Arizona”) Petroglyphs can be found in the Signal Hill area and are thought to be from around 1500 C.E.

who was behind the saguaro national park ?

Pres. Hebert C. Hoover

On March 1, 1933, President Hoover appointed a tract of the desert as a National Monument to preserve the arid wonderland that lies between the Tucson and Rincon mountain ranges. On October 14, 1994, the United States Congress elevated the status from Saguaro National Monument to Saguaro National Park, encompassing 143 square miles (370 sq. km).