A Trek in the Sonoran Desert
- Vicky
- Mar 30, 2022
- 3 min read
Tucson, Arizona is home of United States’ largest cacti, the saguaro. Tucson is also home of Saguaro National Park, which protects these cacti. There are two sides to this national park the west side (Tucson Mountain District) and east side (Rincon Mountain District). Both sides have hikes, scenic drives, and history that are worth a visit. Michael, Amber, and I visited both sides in November 2021.
West Side - Tucson Mountain District
This side offered impressive views and felt further from civilization. It also has younger cacti and is denser than the east side. We did a few hikes around in this part of the of the national park.
Our first day at the Saguaro National Park and our first hike of the trip we went to King Canyon Trailhead to hike up to Mam-A-Gah Picnic Area for lunch. We hiked the King Canyon Trail, which has a good climb up and limited shade, but the views of the mountains in the distance, the wash below, and the saguaro scatter around made stopping for rest stops and water breaks more exciting. After arriving at the picnic area, which has no shade, but very nice picnic tables we decided to take the King Canyon Wash trail back to the trailhead. This part of the trail is a sandy wash bottom that is between the canyon walls. It also offered a different view and more importantly shade.
After the hike we stopped at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. This museum is a mix of natural history, zoo, botanical garden, and aquarium. It was a fun stop. Amber and I enjoyed seeing the large cats especially the sleeping mountain lion.
Another hike we did on the west side was Signal Hill. This trail is short hike to the low summit that is covered with large rocks. The main point of interest of this hike is the many petroglyphs that cover the surface of the rocks. These designs are from the people of the Hohokam culture between 450 and 1450 CE. It was interesting to see these visible signs of people living in the Sonoran Desert.
East Side - Rincon Mountain District
This side also has mountain views but has larger cacti. We visited the Rincon Mountain District side to do the scenic drive, Cactus Forest Drive, a paved 8-mile one-way road. We stopped at the many viewpoints to read the signs to learn about the area. A small hike that is right off the drive is the Desert Ecology Trail. This trail is a 0.25-mile paved loop trail that let’s you explore desert life. This is where we learned more about the saguaro cactus. Such as, young saguaros have the best chance of surviving if they grow under the protection of a “nurse tree”, like mesquite, ironwood, or palo verde. As the saguaro continues to grow, they usually end up killing the nurse tree. Another thing we learned on this hike was that it might take the saguaro 70 years before they sprout arm.
Before our longer hike we stopped for lunch at the Javelina Picnic area. This picnic area had many picnic tables, pit toilets, and offered shaded areas to have lunch. When we finished our lunch we went to the Freeman Homestead trail, which is a mile hike. This hike takes you to the old homestead foundation of the Freeman’s. Along the hike to the homestead, you can view the beautiful Sonoran scenery, as well as little signs posts that tell details of the various cactus along the trail. Michael and I enjoyed sitting under the shade of the Freeman’s mesquite tree that has two benches that marks the location of the old homestead. After some rest and water, we continued onward as the trail dips into a sandy wash. This is where we started worrying if we could find the trail again, but luckily there was an arrow to mark when we left the wash and continued back onto the trail and eventually back to the trailhead.
West or East side of Tucson this national park you can experience the Sonoran Desert by learning its past, present, and how the national park is protecting its future.
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