Saguaro (pronounced suh-war-o) National Park is a landscape unlike any other we’ve seen. A literal cactus forest divided into two units – the Rincon Mountain District (east) and the Tucson Mountain District (west) – and it is approximately 30 miles between the two. 
We visited the east unit on a day when a cold front was blowing in and it was very windy. On the next day when we visited the west unit, we woke up to snow which thankfully disappeared quickly as the day warmed up. Both units were great, but if we had to choose only one, we would probably choose the west unit.
We are excited to share this park with you and hope you enjoy learning about it through our words and lenses.
Where is it?
Saguaro National Park is located in the Sonoran Desert near Tucson, Arizona. The east unit is located at 3693 S. Old Spanish Trail, Tucson, Arizona. The west unit is located at 2700 N. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona.
The park features:
- Visitor centers at each unit with exhibits, park films, and cactus gardens
- Bookstores at each unit’s visitor center
- Hiking trails at each unit
- Bicycling trails at each unit
- Horseback riding allowed on trails at the east unit
- Backcountry camping with permit
- Picnic areas at each unit
- Scenic drives at each unit
- Ranger-led programs
- Entry fee covers both units
Access the park’s website here.
The Sonoran Desert
Spanning 120,000 square miles, the Sonoran Desert covers parts of Arizona and California as well as parts of Mexico. Neighbors include the Chihuahuan Desert to the East, the Mojave Desert to the north, and the Great Basin Desert to the northwest, with each desert possessing different distinguishing factors and its own diverse ecosystems.
The Sonoran Desert’s subtropical climate is characterized by its mild winters and hot summers. It is the hottest desert in North America. Rainfall varies from 3-16 inches per year, though some higher elevation areas receive more rain along with snow in the winter. The desert’s monsoon season usually runs from July through September.
This desert is home to over 2,000 species of plants. Organ pipe cactus is another species that only grows in the Sonoran Desert and can be found at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in the southwest corner of Arizona.
Desert Cacti
While the saguaros are the stars of the show at Saguaro National Park, we enjoyed learning about some of the other cactus varieties that make their home in the Sonoran Desert.
Our newest cactus discovery was the teddy bear cholla (pronounced choy-uh). We have a lot a cholla around where we live, but not this species. Even though the teddy bear cholla looks soft and cuddly, it is not!
If we had visited the park in September rather than in March, we probably would have seen the fishhook barrel cactus in bloom. The interesting thing about this cactus is that it leans toward its greatest source of light. By doing this, the larger plants can topple over and uproot themselves.
We never knew that there were so many species of cholla. We also saw staghorn cholla and pencil cholla. The one above is called a chain fruit cholla because it produces grapelike clusters of edible fruit. It is sometimes known as the jumping cholla due to its short, jointed stems that can easily drop from the plant and attach to people or animals that may be passing by.
Desert Trees
Palo Verde means green stick in Spanish. Identifiable by their green bark, these interesting trees are found throughout the Sonoran Desert. Three things that make this tree so unique:
- It only has leaves/blooms during the spring, dropping them as temperatures climb in order to prevent water loss.
- It lives on virtually no water for prolonged periods of time.
- It survives by photosynthesis through its bark.
We were first introduced to creosote bushes at Big Bend National Park, and it’s likely that we only paid attention to them then because they smell so good – especially after a rain. Nevertheless, the unique thing about creosote bushes in the Sonoran Desert is that they, along with palo verde trees, mesquite trees, and other cacti species, are nurse plants for the saguaro. That means that baby saguaros grow underneath these nurse plants using their shade and nutrients to help the saguaro mature. As the saguaro grows, it takes all of the nurse plant’s nutrients and water which eventually kills the nurse.
The Saguaro
While we walked trails and drove through Saguaro National Park, we spent a lot of time looking for a perfect saguaro. The fact is, there are few that epitomize what we thought a saguaro should look like. First of all, many of them have holes where desert dwelling birds have built homes. (But with no trees, what’s a bird to do?) Secondly, some saguaros have been affected by cold weather or old age, and they’re just not pretty anymore – at least they didn’t look pretty to us. Fortunately, we found a few perfect ones to share. 
Here are some interesting facts about saguaros:
- Without knowing when it was planted there is no way to tell the age of a saguaro.
- Saguaros grow about one inch in its first 5 – 10 years.
- A saguaro may reach 6 feet tall by the time it is 35 – 60 years old and will flower for the first time around 55 years old.
- At 50 – 75 years old the saguaro will start to grow arms and may reach a height of 8 – 20 feet tall.
- While they are considered mature at 125 years old, saguaros can live between 150 – 200 years, and some may live up to 250 years.
- Pleats on the body of the saguaro allow them to expand to retain water, and the number of pleats matches number of wooden ribs on the inside of the plant.
- A fully grown saguaro can weigh up to 4 tons.
- Saguaros bloom for only 24 hours then the blossoms grow into fruit which is edible.
- Saguaro blossoms are the state flower of Arizona.
Crested Saguaros
Crested, or cristate, saguaros are rare, and while some biologists believe that the crests are caused by genetic or hormonal reasons, others think there is a physical cause, such as a lightning strike or cold snap, for the fan-like formations. The fact is that nobody really knows for sure what causes the mutations. When we found out about them, we added them to our mission to find a perfect one, but the one pictured was the only one we found in either unit. According to a ranger, only 25 crested saguaros have been found among the 2 million saguaros living in the park. 
The Crested Saguaro Society has catalogued about 3,300 of these unusual cacti throughout the Sonoran Desert region. Information about their finds is kept in a secret database so that vandals and poachers cannot locate the unique specimens.
It’s Not All About Cactus
Arizona and its surrounding states have been home to indigenous people for thousands of years. Clues to their existence have been left behind in cliff dwellings and other archaeological sites, implements, pottery, and rock art. Rock art can be painted (pictographs) or carved into the rock (petroglyphs). Saguaro National Park has a fine collection of about 200 petroglyphs at a site called Signal Hill.
Hohokam (pronounced hoho-kahm) people, who lived in the area between 450 AD and 1450 AD created Saguaro National Park’s petroglyphs. How do we know this? Some of the same designs are seen in their pottery. Nobody really knows what the symbols mean, though there are speculations.
According to park information, some researchers believe that the petroglyphs are religious symbols. Others believe they may commemorate an event, mark a solstice, or even tell a story. We like to think that the ancient people were recording what they saw – similar to today’s photographs. Regardless of what they mean, it is fun to view them and try to make our own interpretations.
We are going to close the post with a few more shots from around the park.
Thank you so much for exploring Saguaro National Park with us! If you love national parks or need more road trip ideas, check out these other great parks:
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Happy, safe travels, y’all!
Mike and Kellye
As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.
©2023
A superb post and visit Kellye. Cacti and succulents are amazing. I have never been down to Tucson, but hope to get there one day. I hear it is best to carry a pair of pliers with you when walking through the dessert scrub. In fact, at one stop near Phoenix in 2018, a cholla ball cactus jumped onto my foot. I was about to swipe it away with my hand, but thought better of it and used my camera. Thanks for sharing. Allan
Thank you so much, Allan. Saguaro is a great national park, but Arizona has so much to offer that we could spend months there and not tire of it.
Really impressive photos and report! I didn’t even know cacti that big existed. Learned something again 🙂 The Signal Hill’s petroglyphs are also new to me. I’ve just started to think about how I can artistically combine Egyptian hyroglyphs and Chinese stele inscriptions and now a new variant comes into play 🙂
Thank you so much, Fred. Petroglyphs and pictographs are just as interesting to us as the Egyptian hieroglyphs. All art is wonderous.
Absolutely! Ancient cultures have so much to learn from. After all, they could still write back then and I’m not sure if our great-grandchildren or the generation after Tik-Tok will still be able to 🙂 😉
So true!
This is such an impressive park! Thanks for all of the excellent information!
Thank you for checking out the post!
Great captures!! Impressive view from Signal Hill!! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Jyothi!
Oh wow, this is such an interesting post! Even though I really enjoy hiking and planning future National Parks trip, I have to admit I didn’t know much about Saguaro National Park before reading your post… Now I want to see these landscapes and this interesting flora! Adding that park to my bucket list!
Thanks so much, Vanessa! All of Arizona is perfect for a road/camping trip. I hope you get to go one day soon.
Our beautiful desert. Fantastic job at sharing with people the reasons it is so beautiful. It’s so much more than JUST a desert. Always a nice thorough look at the places you visit.
Hi Mike and Kellye, a great post on the Suguaro National Park. Great photos and info from you! A beautiful place to visit. My husband and I went there on our honeymoon 34 years ago. The Sugaro are amazing. So were other parts of Tucson but Suguaro National Park was amazing.
Thank you, Donna! We appreciate your nice comment and absolutely love your desert.
Thank you, Kellye, for the wonderful tour of Saguaro National Park. It is definitely a unique environment. Your pictures are excellent!
Thank you, Betty. They have places to bike there – hint, hint.
I was no fan of the SoCal deserts growing up; they were just places to drive through on the way to places actually worth visiting. But I’ve gradually come to respect these unique ecosystems. The saguaros are fascinating in their own alien sort of way.
Thank you, Mitch. They do look a bit alien, but they are interesting.
You have captured the beauty of the desert. The saguaro cactus info is interesting. I didn’t know they had such long lifespans. Love the photos of the petroglyphs. I have seen many in Hawaii, but the ones in your photos are amazing and plentiful. Must have taken a long time to create so many designs upon the rocks. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for reading the post and for your lovely comment. We absolutely love seeing petroglyphs.
This was such an amazing site with these cacti. This view was so fascinating. Thanks Anita
Thank you, Anita. The saguaros are so interesting.
Oh my goodness, you two! Looks like an incredible park. Your travels are inspirational!
Thanks so much, Neal! It was an incredible park, but aren’t they all?
They are. The diversity of nature.
I saw many saguaros while traversing the state of Arizona a few years ago. Whereas palm trees are ubiquitous and staples of southern California, it looks like saguaros are staples of Arizona and the US Southwest! Absolutely mesmerizing.
Thank you for checking out the post, Rebecca!
Impressive post Kelley, full of interesting details as always. Those cacti look like sculptures, so much detail
Thank you, Ali!
I know cacti, but have never seen saguaros. And how interesting is the Palo verde tree (amazing how these trees can live so long without any water). And I’m surprised to read that a fully grown saguaro can weigh up to 4 tons – that’s heavy! Such beautiful pictures. Thank you, it was nice to walk with you through this unique place.
Thank you for reading and for the lovely comment.
I always think I know how to pronounce things, but I’m always wrong ha! Cacti are so interesting, I thought the two looked like they were high-fiving too. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Lyssy. Don’t feel bad, I have issues with pronunciation too.
Funny that saguaros look like the cartoon version of a cactus and yet it was hard for uou to find that perfect one. Maggie
Thanks for reading Maggie! Yes, it was quite the mission to find a pretty one.
These Saguaro cacti are beautiful and fascinating. Thank you for the pronunciation guidance – I have never been sure. As always you blend practical information with photos that inspire us to visit for ourselves. Maybe one day …
Thank you, Sarah.
I just love cacti- they are such an interesting, resilient, and beautiful plant. The high cactus high five is fantastic. What a delight to explore Saguaro NP with you today! I’m heading to Arizona in a few weeks to see some friends. Hopefully I’ll can convince them into heading south to this park 🙂
Thank you, Meg. We absolutely love Arizona. I hope you get to do some exploring wherever you end up. Safe travels.
I’ve been here, many years ago. It’s a beautiful park. As usual, I learned a ton from your post!
Thank you, Donna.
Those organ pipe cacti look magnificent in Saguaro NP. I’ve visited several parks in Arizona but not that one yet. A great introduction so thank you.
Thanks Marion. I hope you get to visit. It is a beautiful park.
I remember being amazed at the chollas when we visited Joshua Tree last year, they’re actually quite amusing. And your perfect saguaro…that must be the species that features in the legend of the founding of the ancient city which preceded Mexico City and features on the nation’s flag. Love the look and descriptions of the various cacti and cholla in this post.
Thank you so much! Cacti are interesting even if they bite.
Despite visiting Arizona twice, we have yet to make it to this national park. I’m such a fan of all these different types of cacti. I had no idea there were petroglyphs here too.
This is one place I would like to return to. I went there several years ago with my parents. We did a sunset horseback ride there. Divine!
I would love to do a sunset horseback ride there – or anywhere! Thanks for checking out the post, Sharon.
The cacti look like people or hands projecting out from the desert floor.
They do take on a human-like appearance. Thank you for checking out the post!
Every cactus is so unique! I can’t believe how beautiful they are up close. It almost looks like there isn’t a big enough trail to walk through them all, there is so many!
Thanks for reading the post, Diane. Yes, there is a different cactus around every turn. All very interesting.
Oh my goodness I LOVE this post – the different saguaros shapes are so beautiful and unique. I used to collect Cactuses (cacti, I still don’t know?) when I was little in pots all around my bedroom so this National Park would be heaven for me!
Thank you, Hannah! You would definitely get your fill of cactus (cacti) at this park.
What a great post about the Saguaro National Park! Your photos are terrific and I enjoyed reading about the park and the Saguaros. Thank you!
Thank you, Beth!
What a beautiful and fascinating landscape! It reminds me that beauty can flourish even in harsh conditions.
Thank you for reading our post, Rosaliene!
Those cacti, though!!! GADS!!!! How cool.
Thanks Ray! They are pretty cool.
Wow! What a fascinating place (and cacti).
Thank you so much for checking out our post.
So cool to get to see these again. We saw them for the first time last winter. So unique, awesome information as well 🙂
Thank you, Sandra!
Sorry you missed the bloom, that would have been a hit, I understand it offers unique sights🙂 Anyway, beautiful shots, I love the high fiving ones, I was about to say that before reading you comment lol
Thank you, Christie! We appreciate you checking out the post and for the comment!
Stunning pictures!! I love all of the green. The picture of the cacti looking like they are giving a high-five made me smile 😊 Great post, thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Jessica!
When I got my first good camera, I spent a day in the Anza Borrego desert. A great experience as I did not know how much life is in a desert (being from Minnesota).
A great post and pictures…makes me want to go there, and spend way more than a day.
Thank you, Gary! I hope you get to do it soon.
Such a beautiful and amazing view❤️
Thanks so much!