Sovna Naik
Saguaro National Park is located near Tucson in southern Arizona. It basically has two sides located around the vicinity of the city and takes about an hour’s drive(you will need a car to visit either side). Saguaro East is on the Rincon Mountains and the Saguaro West is on the Tucson Mountains.
Saguaro National park holds the country’s largest Cacti, the Saguaro. They can reach a height of approximately 50 feet. Not only saguaro it is home to many different plant species such as Prickly Pear, Cholla, Mesquite, Palo Verde.
We have America the Beautiful annual pass which is quite convenient to enter national parks without the hassle of paying at the entrance but if you don’t have it, that’s totally okay! There is an entrance fee which you can pay at the entrance. We visited Saguaro National Park for a day and we were totally okay to go to both sides of the park. In the Saguaro West, we did the Bajada loop which is a drive of approximately 6 miles (we did see some cyclists ride through the loop).
In the Saguaro East, we drove through the Cactus Forest Loop Drive which is about 8 miles. We did the loop in the early morning as we just wanted to witness the magnificent views of the Sonoran Desert. And truth be told it is indeed breathtaking.
Some of the hiking trails you can check out if it suits your timing and would like it included in your itinerary :
- Valley View Overlook (Saguaro West)
- Freeman Homestead Trail (Saguaro East)
- Cactus Forest Trail
And finally, as per as stay is concerned, it’s very close to the city of Tucson. We had booked a hotel for the night but we did check for the availability of Airbnb nearby (before when planning the trip) and was easily available.
And that is it for our time in the Sonoran Desert for the first time
