State(s): Arizona
Link: https://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm
Days: 2
Month: February
Hotel: Lodge on the Desert
Hikes: 7 = 13.35 miles
National Park Visit Order: #21
Ice Cream: The Screamery
A quick trip to the Tucson, AZ area allowed us to explore Saguaro, a few other local places, and even Tumacacori National Historical Park.
Day 0
We flew into Tucson late one night and settled into our hotel, Lodge on the Desert. By the time we arrived, Walmart was even closed.
Day 1
Early the next morning we rounded up some groceries at Walmart and had a quick breakfast.
There are two main parts to the park: the east side and the west side. This day, we started with the Tucson Mountain District (west side).
Our first stop was the King Canyon Trail, creating a 2.4 mile moderate loop:King Canyon Wash Trail to Sendero Esperanza Trail from the initial junction and returning via Gould Mine Trail. This loop started with a lot of gravel in the wash, it had cacti throughout the loop, and even rock scrambling. Additionally, we were able to find some petroglyphs along the way. By the time we left, the lot was completely full.
Then we stopped at Red Hills Visitor Center to get souvenirs and use the restrooms.
Next up was the Desert Discovery Trail, an easy 0.5 mile walk. Once complete, we had a quick lunch.
We started the afternoon off with the Cactus Wren/Signal Hill/Manville Loop, an easy 4.3 miles trail. Unfortunately Signal Hill was closed due to aggressive bees so we had to take a short side trail around it. At one point we saw a jack rabbit run across the road, which was pretty cool. While on this trail, it was full sun the entire time. Toward the end we saw a little lizard run across the trail.
Next, we headed to the lower parking lot of Redemptorist Renewal Center to check out Picture Rock Petroglyphs. They were very cool! Take a trip over there if you have time.
Our final hike for the day was a 1.1 mile easy loop: Ringtail Trail to Cam-boh Trail to Mule Deer Trail. It had lots of butterflies flying around in the 75* weather!
On our way back to the lodge, we made a stop at The Screamery. I had a homemade waffle cone with triple play – chocolate ice cream with brownies and chocolate chips. Colleen had munchies (pretzels, Ritz crackers, potato chips) and peppermint chip. We both enjoyed our ice creams!
After checking out the lodge a bit and spending a little bit of time relaxing, we headed to the Bashful Bandit BBQ for dinner. I had green chile pulled pork and brisket. The brisket was ok but the pulled pork was amazing. Colleen had jackfruit, which was really good too. Between us, we tried all the sides: Mac & cheese, beans, dill potato salad, and sunflower crunch salad. Dill potato salad and Mac and cheese were the best hands down.
We headed to Trail Dust Town, which was a little underwhelming overall, but we stuck around for the Pistoleros Wild West show. The show was pretty cool; actors were pretty good and it was full of corny jokes, even had some pyrotechnics.
Day 2
The next morning we kicked things off at the Rincon Mountain District (east side). Our first stop was at the park sign.
On the way to the Desert Ecology Trail, a quick and easy 0.25 mile trail, we saw a coyote run across the road and look back at us! Once to the trail, it was a nice stroll on a paved path. It had lots of birds; 13 types in a 60 second recording according to the Merlin Bird ID app. Don’t skip this, it’s a cool trail and doesn’t take much time at all.
Next up was the easy Loma Verde/Pink Hill/Squeeze Pen 3.8 mile loop. Close to the trailhead, we saw something run across the trail that looked similar to a dog but we didn’t get a good glance at it. Later we heard the sound of what sounded like dogs howling; we’re fairly confident it was coyotes. We stopped at the Loma Verde Mine Site for a couple minutes. Throughout the trail, there were tons of birds, many pincushion cactus, and even some butterflies.
Next we stopped at a couple overlooks. First, Riparian Overlook. We enjoyed the view and took some pictures. Then we continued on to the Javelina Rocks Overlook. It was a cool place to explore.
Our final trail at Saguaro National Park was Freeman Homestead Trail, an easy 1 mile hike. Based on the name we were expecting to see more of a homestead but there wasn’t much left so it was a little disappointing in that regard. It was a fine trail though. The temperature was up to 75* at this point.
We checked out Rincon Mountain Visitor Center, purchased some Taza Chocolate (very good), and had lunch.
There was still plenty of time left in the day so we headed to Colossal Cave Mountain Park to do the cave tour. We had a good time on the tour but there was a lot more damage than what we’ve seen in most caves, unfortunately.
Then we headed to Tumacacori National Historical Park. On the way there, we noticed the freeway signs turned to metric units. After a little research, we found the signs were put in place as a pilot program back in the 1970s intended to transition the US to the metric system. Obviously, this ended up failing to go widespread, however, officials decided to keep the signs up for a 63 mile stretch between Tucson and the Mexican border.
On the way back to the lodge, we had to go through a border patrol station, which was interesting.
Golf N’ Stuff was up next on our agenda. We played a round of mini golf. There was also an arcade but we didn’t check that out.
Our final stop for the night was Kon Tiki Restaurant & Lounge for dinner. We each had a mocktail: mango tango and Uncle Sam’s Polynesian punch; they were very good. We started with chicken monkeys and birds on a stick, it was good. Colleen had the Asian salad, which turned out to be the best Asian salad she has ever had, possibly the best salad she’s ever had. I had the Smokehouse BBQ burger with onion rings, it was really good but a little hard to eat because it was so thick. Overall, we were really happy with this place.
Day 3
We packed up and headed out for our final half day in Arizona before traveling to the airport. We stopped at El Brunch Bistro for breakfast. I had the ham breakfast burrito and Colleen had the potato one. Since we were eating there, they gave us chips and salsa too. It was all good.
Our final adventure was just outside the Saguaro National Park, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It was more like a (mostly) outdoor zoo with real animals. It was fine but it was a bit chilly in the morning so a lot of the animals weren’t out.
Once done there, we headed for the airport. Unfortunately we had a layover in Denver and Denver had a huge storm rolling through so our flight was cancelled. After spending the night close by, we flew home the next day.
