Page Updated: March 14, 2023
Saguaro National Park East
2021 MAY
Our first experience in Saguaro National Park was impromptu and quick. We managed to squeeze in a visit to the East District on a weekday after work in hopes of seeing a little bit of the park and attempting to capture the perfect sunset picture. We made it to the Visitor Center just before closing to grab our obligatory NPS merch before making our way into the Park.
Cactus Forest Drive lives up to the hype. It’s windy, narrow and beautiful.
In addition to picnic areas, trailheads and overlooks, there are areas along the loop for single car pullout allowing fellow motorists to pass. The road wasn’t crowded during our drive, so we used them to stop and take pictures of different cactus and the landscape. We were lucky and had beautiful sunny skies mostly devoid of clouds and dust. But as the sun set, the haze built up making our amateur photos look a bit pukey.
Cactus Forest Drive-
We took a turn off Cactus Forest Drive onto Mica View Road to the Mica View Picnic Area to do a side quest and explore Mica View Trail. Mica must’ve had one heck of a view. Jokes aside, it was a nice area to explore.
We picked our way through the trails and pieced together our own hike:
After the sun set and we finally finished driving the loop, we stopped for dinner at Saguaro Corners - an unassuming watering hole you can see from the Park entrance. The have good reviews and a terrific little outdoor patio area. Their street tacos are great, but the nachos are better! And if you’ve never heard of or had a Huckleberry Margarita, treat yourself. They’re amazing!
More than a million people visited Saguaro National Park in 2021. This was our 7th National Park, and we found it to be the least populated. A few contributing factors to our experience to several factors:
1) It was a May visit, so it was hot.
2) It was late in the afternoon; so not too far being dark.
3) It as the middle of the week; work
4) It was 2021; Covid.
It will be interesting to see how future visits compare with our first experience.
We only had a few hours in Saguaro National Park. We hope to return in the future with more time on our hands to tackle the more challenging trails SNP has to offer. Not sure if we’re tough enough to do wilderness camping, but I’d love to tackle biking Cactus Forest Loop Drive!
scenes from SNP
-b&b
Bisbee AZ
Mica View - Cactus Forest - Javelina Wash Loop
