One of Arizona’s three national parks, Saguaro National Park flanks downtown Tucson in southern Arizona. This park features the giant saguaro cactus (pronounced Suh-waa-row) towering over the gentle desert landscape of the Sonoran Desert. This park is divided into two sections, making it easily accessible from the town of Tucson. It is wildly underrated, in our opinion, and is definitely worth a stop on your Arizona road trip. Keep reading to find information that will help you plan your trip to Saguaro National Park, including when to visit, how to get around, what to budget and all of our favorite things to do at Saguaro.
About Saguaro National Park
Saguaro National Park is one of the most easily accessible National Parks we’ve ever been to. This is largely due to its close proximity to Tucson. Because this is an easily accessible park, it is a great National Park to visit for first-time National Park visitors as you have the many attractions of Tucson to fall back on if National Parks end up not being your thing.
Saguaro National Park began its journey to National Park-dom in the 1930s when it first became a National Monument to protect the saguaro cacti’s habitat. Over the years land was added to the Monument until it became the two separate districts you see today. In 1994, it was upgraded to National Park status. All of this land was conserved to protect the unique saguaro cactus.
The saguaro cactus can grow up to 40 feet tall and live for an average of 150-200 years. You’ll see some sprouting out of the Arizona dirt that are 1/4 inch tall; these may be as old as two years. The ones that will enchant you with multiple arms reaching toward the sky are likely decades, if not centuries, old. But if you’re thinking seeing saguaro cacti is the only thing to do at Saguaro, you’ll find so much more! Keep reading to see more about this amazing place.
Top Things to Do At Saguaro National Park
Hiking
You’ll find so many amazing hiking trail in Saguaro National Park that will give you the opportunity to explore the Sonoran Desert ecosystem. The worst heat is between 10AM-4PM so try to plan your bigger hikes around this. We recommend fitting your bigger hikes into the morning and evening and then doing the short easy 1-2 mile hikes midday. If you are planning on fitting a big hike into your day, make sure to give yourself plenty of time. There isn’t enough time in a day to do a big hike (6+ miles) and see both sections of the park without really pushing yourself.
Horseback Riding
Many of the trails in Saguaro National Park are multi-use trails and you’ll see plenty of horseback riders here. What better place to try your hand at horseback riding than on these well-groomed trails. Also, it will hep you to avoid exerting yourself in the heat (sorry horses). You’ll find horseback riding tours operating out of Tucson.
Saguaro West – Tucson Mountain District
Red Hills Visitor Center
This is a great starting point for your visit to Saguaro National Park. You can use the restrooms, fill up your water bottles, get your free park map and buy you park pass. You all can take the really short and well signed walk around the Visitor Center that will describe all the fun plants you’ll find as you continue to explore the park.
Desert Discovery Nature Trail
This is a nice short walk to take with tons of info on it. The signs along the trail will help you identify cacti. This skill will come in handy as you continue to find things to do at Saguaro National Park.
Bajada Loop Drive
This 6-mile (mainly) dirt road is well maintained and a great drive if you’re looking to see those densely populated saguaro forests, though it does get bumpy in areas. Drive the loop counterclockwise to avoid having to backtrack due to the one-way sections. The loop also has plenty of pull outs with short walks to viewpoints so you can see the beautiful desert landscape. Driving the loop is slow going but enjoy it! There are also two very short and very popular trails here. The Valley View Overlook trail is a great one to do.
Signal Hill
From the Bajada Loop Drive, consider taking the turnoff and driving to Signal Hill. At Signal Hill you’ll see some pretty cool petroglyphs up close and personal. Please respect the people who put these here in the past and the people who want to see them in the future and keep your greasy fingers off. From the Signal Hill parking area you can do a few short hikes.
Saguaro East – Rincon Mountain District
Rincon Visitor Center
Less impressive that the western Visitor Center, is the Rincon Visitor Center. But you’ll still want to stop here to take a restroom break and fill up your water bottles.
Cactus Forest Drive Loop
This is the easiest thing to do at Saguaro East. The one way driving loop will wind through a small portion of the park and give you plenty of chances to pull off and take in the scenic views. There are also some great easy trails that spur off of this driving loop. The Desert Ecology trail loop is a nice short loop to hike if you want to stretch your legs.
Mica View Trail
The Mica View Trail is a nice easy trail to walk to get you further into the Saguaro wilderness. It also is a great starting point for other longer hikes. Hike this short trail and decide if you have the stamina (and water supply) to continue on or loop back on a different trail.
When to Visit Saguaro National Park
Technically speaking, you can visit Saguaro National Park year round. However, do you really want to visit the desert in the summer? The answer to that question is no, in case you were curious. We visited in September and it was still pretty miserable. Visiting between June-September is not recommended as dehydration is a serious risk and you’ll have to eliminate any serious hiking you may want to do. Because we visited in this time, we visited the park in the early mornings and late evening while spending time doing air conditioned activities in Tucson mid-day.
Winter is a great time to visit Saguaro. After all, who doesn’t love a warm weather destination in the winter! And these cooler days will really help you to fully enjoy all the hiking trails that Saguaro has to offer.
Spring is also a highly recommended time to visit the park as you can see the cacti blooming throughout the park if you time your visit just right. If you specifically want to see the saguaro cactus in bloom, May and June are the months to attempt this. But know that each cactus bloom only lasts 24 hours.
Getting There and Around
The eastern section of the park is called the Rincon Mountain District and has fewer cacti to see, yet has some amazing hiking trails, a campsite and is the perfect area to visit if you’re looking to experience fewer crowds.
Saguaro west is called the Tucson Mountain District. This is a smaller section of the park that is more densely populated with cacti. This is the perfect starting point for your day in Saguaro as it’s easy to visit and definitely packs a punch with cacti everywhere.
These two sections of park are separated by the town of Tucson. It takes about one hour to drive between the two park sections. If you’re looking to add some activities to your Saguaro itinerary, check out our favorite things to do in Tucson here.
You can choose to fly into Tucson or even drive the two hours from Phoenix to get here. We flew into Phoenix as the flights were sooo cheap.
To explore the park (and Tucson), you’ll need a car. If you want to check out the many things to do in Saguaro National Park, you’ll have to drive both in the park and through Tucson to get from the east to the west section of the park.
Where to Stay
Tucson is the best place to stay if you’d like to explore Saguaro National Park for more than one day. Or Tucson is just a cool place with fun things to do so consider staying overnight to give you time to explore the town.
We stayed with a friend when we visited so we can’t personally recommend any accommodations.
There are no lodging options within the park except backcountry camping in the Rincon Mountain District for $8/night.
What To Budget For Saguaro National Park
You’ll need to plan to purchase a Saguaro National Parks pass. This pass is available at the visitor centers in both sections of the park or online for $25. The park appreciates you buying your pass ahead of time here. This pass will get you and anyone in your vehicle into the park for seven days. However, if you plan to visit another National Park on your Arizona vacation, like Petrified National Park or the Grand Canyon, consider purchasing the America the Beautiful annual National Parks pass which will admit you and anyone in your car into any National Park or Federal Recreational Lands for the entire year. Other than entrance fee, you won’t have to pay for anything else to enjoy the park!
You may want to enjoy a nice lunch at an air conditioned restaurant in Tucson to escape the mid-day heat. We recommend finding a great Mexican restaurant and prepare yourself for some amazing Mexican food. Lunch prices average around $13/person.
We hope this list of things to do at Saguaro National Park has helped to inspire you to plan your own desert getaway. For a full itinerary for Saguaro, check out our post!
