Saguaro National Park, nhnomads.com

Tucson Mountain District

One of the things that we did not realize as we were planning our trip was that Saguaro National Park is comprised of two districts. In fact, we did not learn this until we arrived at the Red Hills Visitor Center and were talking to the ranger

We checked out of our hotel and left Flagstaff so that we could stop at the Oak Creek Canyon overlook when it opened at 9:00. This put us in to Saguaro NP West District (Tuscon Mountain District) around 1:00, after a relatively leisurely drive south on I-17 to Phoenix and I-10 toward Tuscon.

Red Hills Visitor Center, Tucson Mountain District, Saguaro National Park.

We spent a short time at the Red Hills Visitor Center, getting our Passport Stamps, browsing the gift shop, and watching the film. Of all of the NPS films we have seen, this one left us wanting more. We appreciate the cultural tie-ins, but this film told us very little about the park itself. We better enjoyed the film that played at the Rincon District Visitor Center.

From the Red Hills Visitor Center, we drove back north a bit and hiked the short Desert Discovery Nature Trail. It is a loop that is less than a half-mile, paved and level. This trail had several informational signs along the way, and it was a great introduction to the many types of cactus and other plant and wildlife that are native to the area.

A “fish-hook” cactus, so named for its “J” shaped needles.

Saguaro Cactus do not grow “arms” until they are between 50 and 75 years old. I did not come across any of the stereotypical saguaro that had the two staggered arms, they seemed to grow any which way.

Desert Lizard that crossed the path in front of us

We learned that there are two rainy seasons in the Sonoran Desert, one in Spring and one in early Fall. We were able to catch the tail-end of the bloom that resulted from the September monsoons.

Prickly Pear Cactus with some flowers remaining

Young Saguaro Cactus at Saguaro National Park

Not 100% sure, but I think this is a creosote bush after bloom.

The Desert Discovery Nature Trail was a level paved loop trail that was a good introduction to the park.

After finishing the Desert Discovery Nature Trail loop, we got back in the Jeep and continued north for a few hundred feet, where we turned off of the pavement and onto the dirt Hohokam Road.

Jumping Cholla cactus plants (among many other types) at Sus picnic area

After we passed the Hugh Norris Trail head parking, Hohokam Road became a one-way road for a little over a mile. The Valley View Overlook Trail head was along this stretch of the road.

We loved our Jeep! Having the roof off did not get old (though it did get COLD once the sun went down).

We had to choose our hikes carefully, we wanted to maximize the daylight hours that we had. We hiked the Valley View Overlook Trail, which was well marked and had interesting informational signs along the first portion of the trail. This hike was less than a mile (total) out and back to the parking area.

Valley View Overlook at the end of the trail.

There was just enough daylight left after the Valley View Overlook Trail that I thought we could get a Virtual Geocache that was located in the park. We drove up as far as the Ez-Kim-In-Zim picnic area while scouting out the best approach. I wound up deciding that the old roadbed (barely recognizable as a road, even though the Garmin GPS wanted us to drive out of the park that way!) would work. I wound up jogging most of the way along a wash, got the information I needed to log the cache, then jogged back to the Jeep. What I saw on this quick jaunt made me want to see more. Next time we’re here, we will have to spend a couple of days hiking the trails around here!