Since 1933 Saguaro National Park in Arizona has protected the extraordinary giant saguaro cactus. The saguaro has been described as the monarch of the Sonoran Desert, a prickly horror, a supreme symbol of the American Southwest, and as a plant with personality. It is renowned for the variety of unusual, seemingly human shapes it assumes. Unique to the Sonoran Desert, saguaro sometimes reach a height of 50 feet and live 100 years in this cactus forest, which covers the valley floor, rising into the Rincon and West Tucson mountains.
The Sonoran Desert is sometimes called the Green Desert — it receives an average of 12 inches of rain each year and is considered one of the lushest, most biologically diverse deserts on earth. In addition to its marquee cacti, the park is home to 49 others species of cactus, from portly barrel cacti and vicious-looking chollas to varieties of prickly pear and hedgehog cactus. A variety of wildlife like rattlesnakes, gila monsters, mountain lions, elf owls and desert tortois, which can live as long as 100 years all call the park home.
In South Arizona and open year-round, the main part is West of Tucson and a lesser visited section is East of Tucson. Activities: Hiking, Bicycle Trail, Photography.
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