A four-armed saguaro cactus, Saguaro National Park / Jennifer Bain

Split into East and West districts, with Tucson, Arizona, smack dab in the middle, Saguaro National Park is home to the nation's largest cacti. One-armed or multi-armed, these giant cacti appear to be in a perpetual state of surprise with their upraised arms. Travel to this national park and you will not only see plenty of saguaro, but also cholla, prickly pear, pincushion, and barrel cacti, to name a few. Visit in April and May and there’s a good chance of spotting brilliantly-saturated blooms on those same cacti.

Take a hike in Saguaro National Park and it will feel like you are far from any metropolitan area as you gaze out upon the vast, rugged landscape. With Tucson so close, however, you won’t have any problems trying to find lodging, food, or fuel for your vehicle. That’s handy, since there is no in-park lodging nor is there frontcountry camping accessible by vehicle.

Bring your camera to photograph those cactus blooms, petroglyphs etched into the rocks as far back as 1,550 years ago, sunsets over the landscape, and any of a variety of animals who can survive the high desert temperatures well enough to call this national park home. What might you see? Depending upon when and what part of the park you choose to explore, you might spy road runners, Gambel’s quail, kangaroo rats, Gila monsters, javelinas, mule deer, coyotes, black bears, squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits.

Saguaro National Park Articles Featured In The Traveler

Saguaro Arms And Other Cactus Musings In Tucson

There’s a four-armed saguaro living on the western edge of Tucson that has one broken arm, one newborn arm, one thick older arm pointing to the Arizona sky and one slender younger arm pointing towards the Sonoran Desert soil.

It’s not the prettiest, greenest or healthiest-looking cactus around. But of all the cacti I admired in Saguaro National Park, it’s the one that made the biggest impression.

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Saguaro National Park At Risk

The vast, arid landscape of Saguaro National Park is often simply characterized as a desert. While it’s true that the park lies within the formidable Sonoran Desert where summer temperatures reach north of 115 degrees, the land between park boundaries teems with life and hosts complex habitats.

With 1.6 million saguaro cacti, the National Parks Conservation Association calls Saguaro National Park “the largest forest of its kind on the planet.”

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Trails I've Hiked: Saguaro National Park's Ethnobotany Garden

One of the best hikes at Saguaro National Park is one you can combine with a stop at the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center on the eastern side of the park. Indeed, the "trailhead" as it were, to the Ethnoboany Garden is just before you enter the visitor center itself. 

What, you wonder, is an "ethnobotany garden"? Basically, it's a garden of Sonoran Desert plants that long have been used by local cultures for foods and other uses. As the sign to the trail states, "Imagine living in the Sonoran Desert. What would you eat? What could you use for shelter? What would you do if you became ill?"

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Saguaro National Park is always open, except under emergency conditions and on certain holidays. You can walk or bike into the park 24 hours a day. In the Western District, the Cactus Forest Loop Drive is open daily 5:00am - 8:30pm. In the Tucson Mountain District (West), the Bajada Scenic Loop Drive is open daily dawn to dusk (actual times vary throughout the year).

Traveler’s Choice For: Cactus, photography, Sonoran Desert ecosystems