Read about our visit to Saguaro National Park East & West in a day. Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ has 2 separate areas on different sides of the city about an hour apart. We are staying in Tucson this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, and we have 1 day to see both sides. To read about how we got here, check out: Our Road Trip from Florida to Arizona and Back.
Saguaro National Park protects the nation’s largest cacti, the giant saguaro, to the east and west of Tucson. And the estimated number of them in the national park is 1.8 million. The saguaro cactus is an iconic symbol of the American West, which can live over 150 years. They can also get as tall as 50 feet, and we are looking forward to seeing them up-close. To read more about saguaros and this park, see their website: Saguaro National Park (nps.gov)
Planning
Becky and I are with our daughter and her parents this week in the Oro Valley suburb of Tucson. We are here spending time with Becky’s family in Tucson for Thanksgiving week. We decide to go on this Sunday because their visitor centers are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Monday we have family pictures and Thursday is Thanksgiving so this day is best. Becky’s mom Gigi decides to go with us, but her dad Poppa decides to stay back to help her uncle. So, we narrowed down who’s going and when.
We are staying in Oro Valley north of downtown Tucson, and plan to go to Saguaro East first. The plan is to spend a few hours in the morning and then leave around lunch. We heard about a local place called eegee’s that we can stop at in between Saguaro East and West. We will then spend a couple hours at Saguaro West before heading back to Oro Valley. However, we plan to stop at a brewery on the way back if we have time.
Saguaro East’s visitor center is called the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center. We will visit it first before doing the 8 mile paved loop road through the park. We will then head to Eegee’s for lunch on way to Saguaro West’s Red Hills Visitor Center. After leaving the park we will head north hitting Catalina Brewing Company on the way back.
Saguaro East Entrance and Rincon Mountain Visitor Center
We arrive at the entrance to Saguaro East right before 9:00AM. There is a short line to get in and we waive our annual pass to enter. Vehicle passes are normally $25 for a week and include both East and West sections. Once in, the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center is on the left. We park and head into the visitor center where Becky gets her passport stamp. In addition, they have a shop where we look around some.
However if you want information, there is a covered table setup outside because of Covid. So, we walk outside to talk to the park rangers. We get some information for easy trails since Becky has a broken foot. She has a knee scooter, so we will stick to short paved trails they mention. They also give us a junior ranger activity booklet for our daughter. It contains everything to complete the activity as well as the junior ranger badge and certificate. Just past the visitor center is the start of the scenic loop through the park, Cactus Forest Drive.
Start of Cactus Forest Loop Drive in Saguaro East
Cactus Forest Drive is an 8 mile paved scenic loop through Saguaro East. There are overlooks you can stop at as well as picnic areas and access to trails. The park rangers mentioned the Mica View Picnic Area “Loop” trail as well as the Desert Ecology Trail. We will drive the loop and look for those trails.
There are 2 overlooks on the way to the Mica View picnic area. The first overlook, is the Sonoran Desert Overlook. There are some signs explaining the desert beyond. We get a view of some saguaro cacti and the Rincon Mountains in the background. This gives us a good introduction into this desert landscape. The next overlook, the Cactus Forest Overlook, provides a closer look at the saguaro cactus.
Mica View Picnic Area and Trails
Past the 2 overlooks is the turn off for the Mica View picnic area. This gravel access road is just over half a mile but we take it slow. At the end we come to a parking area with a covered picnic area to the left. There are some other picnic tables spread around and some restrooms. We park and see a paved walkway to the left. This is the start of the Mica View trail which heads north connecting to another trail for the return trip.
All 4 of us decide to walk on this trail, but Becky is taking it slow on her knee scooter. Gigi stays back with her as Paul and our daughter walk further. This is a nice and easy trail to walk and you get to see some decent-sized saguaros and other cacti. We walk for a while but see no end to this trail. It is supposed to connect to another trail, which connects to another trail for the return loop. But after about 15 minutes, we just turn around and head back.
This trail is warm in November and imagine it would be unbearable during the summer. Becky didn’t go far before going back, so we all meet up at the car. We drive the return trip on the gravel road back to the Cactus Forest Drive. It is very narrow and had to pull over for a car heading past us. Once back on the paved road, we head to the next stop, the Desert Ecology Trail.
Desert Ecology Trail and end of the Cactus Forest Loop Drive
The parking lot is on the right side of the road, with a walkway over the road to the trail. We are careful as we cross the road to the start of the trail. The Desert Ecology Trail is a short 1/4 mile paved loop that provides interpretive signs along the way. The trail starts along the Javelina East Wash which is dry.
There are also benches along the way making it a nice easy trail. We take our time on this trail taking just over 15 minutes. This is a good trail to try to do the junior ranger activity booklet. However, we find it hard to do for our 4-year old daughter and just explore instead. There is a huge saguaro right off the trail so we stop and take some pictures. We have seen a large number of saguaros so far, but not many big ones. After this quick hike, we head back to the car.
Once back in the car, we continue on the Cactus Forest Loop drive. We stop at the Rincon Mountains Overlook and finally get a good view of the cactus forest. At this point we have been in the park about 2.25 hours, but we are ready to move on. Saguaro West is about an hour away and we heard their visitor center closes today at 2:00. We have time, but we plan to stop for lunch on the way at eegee’s.
Eegee’s Lunch
Multiple people recommended stopping at eegee’s (eegee’s | | Phoenix & Tucson, AZ (eegees.com)) while in the Tucson area. And we found a location on the route between Saguaro East and West, so we decided to stop for lunch. eegee’s is known for their namesake frozen ice drink. In addition, they serve grinders, subs, salads, fries and sides.
However we were disappointed. We had deluxe grinders that were just ok. We also had Cherry Cider “eegees” which was their flavor of the month. Maybe it was just the flavor, but seriously did not understand the hype. Our daughter got a hot dog and told us it wasn’t cooked. We touched it and it was cold, not cooked. Not to mention we waited 20 minutes in the drive thru and then they had us wait in a parking spot to bring out our food. Also was expensive for what we got. We have no desire to go back, but at least we tried it. And we are now ready to head to Saguaro West.
Saguaro West Red Hills Visitor Center
We park at the Red Hills Visitor Center at about 1:50PM having about 10 minutes before they close today. We put on our masks before entering the building. Becky gets her Passport stamp which is different from Saguaro East. Many times they have different stamps at different visitor centers and is always good to check each time. We are also able to get some maps, but not much time to look around. Unfortunately, the rangers close it up promptly at 2:00. The good news is they have nice restroom facilities and a great view behind the building.
The view behind the visitor center is a good introduction to Saguaro West. We see a heavier concentration of saguaros, but most are much smaller. The Saguaro West area is in the Tucson Mountain district. And we find out their Scenic Bajada Loop Drive is a popular way to explore this area. But first, we head to the Desert Discovery Trail.
Desert Discovery Trail
The Desert Discovery Trail is just 1 mile past the Red Hills Visitor Center. Similar to the Desert Ecology Trail at Saguaro East, this is a short paved trail with interpretive signs. The trail is a 1/2 mile with frequent benches and perfect for Becky’s knee scooter. And not far onto the trail, we spot a bird scurrying around the trail in front of us. We are happy to see some wildlife after Saguaro East and are able to identify it as a Curve-billed thrasher. In addition to seeing the default desert bird, we also see some large saguaros.
Also unlike the similar trail at Saguaro East, this trail has covered benches. These benches are nice just to take a quick stop and look around. This trail also feels like you are more in the wilderness and we enjoy soaking in our surroundings. On the way out we see some very large saguaros and take some pics before heading back to our car.
Scenic Bajada Loop Drive in Saguaro West
The Scenic Bajada Loop Drive is an unpaved 6 mile loop about a 1/2 mile from the Desert Discovery Trail. This loop has many hiking trailheads to explore this side of the park. Unfortunately none are suitable for a knee scooter. And even though this road says 4-wheel drive is not needed, it is bumpy.
Though we get a good view of the wilderness driving through it. We see a lot more saguaro cacti on this road then the Cactus Forest Loop Drive in Saguaro East. However, we see a lot of smaller ones. About 3/4 way through the loop is the turn off for the Signal Hill Picnic Area.
Signal Hill Picnic Area and Trail
We park in the Signal Hill Picnic Area where we see covered picnic areas. After the bumpy ride, everyone decides to just hang out in the car except Paul who hits the trail. The short 0.3 mile Signal Hill Trail starts from the picnic area and climbs down numerous steps to a wash. It crosses the wash where the trail continues up more steps to Signal Hill.
Not only do you get a great view of the area from this hill, but there are dozens of ancient petroglyphs here. And you can get pretty close to these ancient rock carvings more than 800 years old. This trail definitely offers something different than just the desert landscape. The trail heads back the same way back to the parking lot. Once back in the car, we finish the scenic loop drive and leave Saguaro National Park about 3:30 in the afternoon. We head back to our resort, however we plan one stop on the way back, the Catalina Brewing Company.
Catalina Brewing Company
Our route to Catalina Brewing Company from the loop drive take us through a northern section of Saguaro West. There are a lot of wilderness areas you can explore, but we just take in more desert views. Once past the mountains we are quickly back into the city where we find the brewery. It is tucked into an industrial area just as we pass I-10. You can read more about them at their site: Catalina Brewing Company – Hand-Crafted Bike Fuel.
We head into the brewery leaving our daughter and Gigi in the car. This is just a quick stop to check out the place. They have a nice sized tap room area and an additional room with pool tables and other games. This would be a nice place to hang out at if we had more time. We enjoy a few samples including a pumpkin infused porter. One of our favorites was the La Rosa cream ale with a taste of prickly pear. Enjoying a taste from the desert was a great way to end our day before heading back. The brewery is about 25 minutes from our resort and we get back about 4:30. We’ve traveled all around Tucson today with plenty of time before dinner with the rest of our family.
Summary
We made a loop around Tucson today, starting at Saguaro East’s Rincon Mountain Visitor Center. We then traveled their Cactus Forest Loop drive loop stopping at some short trails and scenic overlooks. After a couple hours in Saguaro East we grabbed lunch on the way to Saguaro West at eegee’s. After lunch, we made it to Saguaro West’s Red Hills Visitor Center. We then hit a quick trail before driving their Scenic Bajada Loop Drive. After another quick trail we leave after a few hours to our final stop at a brewery. Overall we drove about 4 hours and 110 miles including the 2 scenic loop roads.
You can definitely do Saguaro East and West in a day. Though we were limited and stuck to short paved trails for the most part. If Becky didn’t have a broken foot, we could have explored more. But it would have been more difficult to see both sides of Saguaro National Park in a day. We enjoyed the trails we did at Saguaro West the most. The Desert Discovery Trail was a nice short and paved trail with beautiful scenery. The Signal Hill Trail offered something different in ancient petroglyphs.
Lunch was a bust at eegee’s, but we had a nice stop for some sample beers at Catalina Brewing Company. With so much to see around Tucson, we were glad to do Saguaro East and West in a day!