Saguaro

As our third national park on our trip, we visited Saguaro National Park. The park is a desert landscape with a huge variety of cacti, with the star being Saguaro Cacti which only grow in that area. They can be up to 35ft (10m) and 150 years old!!!

Time of Travel

We went to see the Park in early August, which is not prime tourist season due to the heat. Temperatures rose to 104°F (40°C) during the day. This time we also couldn’t go early in the morning like we did for Joshua Tree because we first had to do the 3.5 hour drive from Sedona to Saguaro. We ended up getting there in the toasty afternoon heat and because of that we did a lot of driving inside the park as well. Whenever we saw an interesting spot we made sure to park and walk along the trail for a bit before cooling off in the car again. This time we also only saw a few other people, which we really enjoyed. Judging by the signs telling you what to do when there are a lot of tourists, this seems a rarity.

We thought it was a good time to visit the park in summer. The lack of people makes it a very special visit. Since Saguaro is part of the Sonoran-Desert we felt like we wouldn’t have been able to see much more even if we went on bigger hikes… it is a desert after all…

Amount of time at the park

We spent half a day in Saguaro and we found it to be a perfect amount of time. We got a good idea of the park, the huge cacti, and animals and were able to enjoy without rushing.

General Park Information

Saguaro National Park is split in two parts by the city of Tuscon. We only visited the western part of the park. That half of Saguaro has a higher density of cacti but is a bit more touristy. In our case we didn’t care about that though because there was no one around anyways. The streets in the western part of the park are not paved but that wasn’t a problem at all.

The eastern half is more mountainous and because of that has more hiking and bike trails and is a good area if you want to do any bird watching.

During our research about Joshua Tree National Park, we discovered the National Park Service App and I was very grateful we found out about it. The app is great as it allows you to download the map of the park and most of the hikes, trails and activities are visible on the app. Oftentimes you might not have service in the park, so it is super handy to have everything available offline.

The daily entry fee to most the national parks is 25 dollars per vehicle (including passengers). The nice part about it is, this will allow you entry for an entire week. If you are planning on seeing several different parks, the annual pass might be of interest to you. It costs 80 dollars which includes a vehicle, 4 adults and children for all parks in the US.

Activities

We entered the park through Sandario Road and then turned left onto Kinney Road. There we went on the Desert Discovery Trail which is a great way to start your day in the park. There was a good variety of cacti along this trail and there are signs that tell you more about the local nature. We even saw a few cacti in full bloom! The Discovery Trail is a Loop of 0.5 miles length and it gives you a good idea of the park.

Then we drove to Red Hills Visitor Center to cool off and to learn more about the park. Until then I didn’t know that Saguaro Cacti are wooden inside, I always thought it was all just plant flesh. Around the Visitor Center you can find a lot of smaller hiking paths to discover.

To finish our journey in the park we drove around a loop. You start it by driving on Sandario Road until you turn right onto Hohokam Road. Follow the street until the end. Then turn left onto Golden Gate Road and drive until you get back to Sandario Road. You can only drive the loop this way around.

Conclusion

Saguaro is undoubtedly worth a visit. Its close approximation to cities like Tuscon and Phoenix make it a great destination. Why not spend a day at a national park? We loved how diverse all the plants were and how different they all were from what we’ve seen before.

Saguaro National Park Guide