Saguaro National Park
Tucson's Bookends
The giant saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) is an icon of the Southwest and only grows in the Sonoran Desert. Fortunately, the National Park Service (NPS) has preserved 1.8 million saguaros (estimated) and the beautiful land that they grow on within Saguaro National Park. In my previous two posts, I shared many facts about the iconic cactus. If you haven’t checked out those posts, you can easily refer to them with the link below.
https://npnowandthen.substack.com
Currently, the city of Tucson in southeastern Arizona is fortunate to have the two separate areas of the park on either side of the city—the Tucson Mountain District (TMD) about 10 miles west of the city and the Rincon Mountain District (RMD) about 10 miles east of the city. They are like “bookends” to Tucson, known as the Old Pueblo. I would like to share facts about this park. As a long-time Tucson resident living a mere seven miles from the RMD, I was unaware of some of these fascinating facts.
The First Sonoran Desert National Monument
Long before the current lands were protected by the NPS, an effort to conserve a portion of pristine Sonoran Desert culminated in the creation of the first Sonoran Desert monument in 1914: Papago Saguaro National Monument. It was located on the outskirts of Tempe and Phoenix, Arizona.
Phoenix residents at the time viewed the Papago Saguaro National Monument as a park along the lines of New York‘s Central Park where the social value was more important that the natural features of the park. This isn’t a bad thing, but it was obvious that national monument status wasn’t appropriate for the park and, by 1930, monument lands were back under state control. Today it flourishes as Papago Park, a municipal park of the cities of Phoenix and Tempe. The 1496-acre park includes the Desert Botanical Garden, a large zoo, picnic areas, baseball and softball fields, several small lakes, hiking trails, bicycle paths, a fire museum, and a golf course.
papago-saguaro-nm-brief.pdf (nps.gov)
Papago Park (Phoenix) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (tripadvisor.com)
Saguaro National Monument near Tucson
After Papago Saguaro was returned to the state of Arizona, the NPS searched for land to designate as a new monument to fill the need of preserving a piece of the Sonoran Desert. There was a coalition of local conservationists and scientists who wanted to protect what was known locally as the Tanque Verde Cactus Forest or Giant Cactus Forest to the east of Tucson. On March 1, 1933, President Hoover designated the area once known as the Tanque Verde Cactus Forest as Saguaro National Monument.
Between 1936 and 1939, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built the monument's Cactus Forest Loop Drive and related infrastructure. The monument's visitor center opened in the 1950s. This was the beginning of what is now known as the Rincon Mountain District.
The Arizona Trail Passes through the Rincon Mountain District (East of Tucson)
The Arizona trail is an 800-mile trail that crosses Arizona from its border with Mexico to the south to its border with Utah on the north. A segment of it passes through the RMD from southwest to northeast. In 2009, Congress designated it a National Scenic Trail.
Arizona National Scenic Trail - Home (usda.gov)
Tucson Mountain District (West of Tucson)
On November 15, 1961, the Tucson Mountain District (TMD) (15,360 acres) was added to Saguaro National Monument. Prior to its transfer, this area was part of Pima County’s Tucson Mountain Park.
TMD has 12 miles of paved roads and 8.5 miles of unpaved roads, including the 5-mile (8 km) Bajada Loop Drive. The most popular longer hike is to Wasson Peak. Wasson Peak via Hugh Norris Trail | Outdoor Project
Hohokam (ancient indigenous people) petroglyphs etched into large stones are easily accessible in the TMD. The Signal Hill Trail, which begins at the Signal Hill Picnic Area along the Bajada Loop Drive, leads to an area with dozens of examples of 800-year-old rock art.
Ramadas, picnic tables and restrooms were built by the CCC between 1933 and 1941 using materials from the surrounding area. The above pictures show a ramada built with a rock with a petroglyph on it. It appears the appreciation for such artifacts was different decades ago.
Elevated to National Park Status
On October 14, 1994, Congress officially elevated the area known as Saguaro National Monument to the current designation as a National Park.
Which District to Visit?
Visit both if you can! It’s easy to take Speedway Blvd. across Tucson, past the University of Arizona to access both districts. The drive over Gates Pass and through Tucson Mountain Park near the west district is a destination in itself (not accessible to RVs and larger vehicles-must take a different route).
Both districts highlight the saguaro however, both are somewhat different. RMD (east) is more mountainous and has more hiking trails. It’s home to a “sky island” ecosystem with a diverse range of animals such as bears, cougars and the elusive coati (coatimundi). It allows backpacking where the TMD section is lower in elevation and has a denser saguaro forest. TMD is also near the Sonoran Desert Museum. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ - Zoo, Botanical Garden and Art Gallery
No matter how you visit, you will certainly gain an appreciation for the Sonoran Desert ecosystem and the iconic giant saguaro.
Next Time
I'm going to take a break from sharing about saguaros and the Sonoran Desert and take us to Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Oppenheimer movie will be released this week and much of Oppenheimer’s story and the development of the Atomic Bomb takes place near Los Alamos, New Mexico. I invite you to check it out.
Home in the rock, been there so many times and actually went to a Grateful Dead something there with my mom and her boyfriend at the time.