How to Spend One Day in Saguaro National Park with Kids

Jan 22

The namesake cacti of Saguaro National Park are really a sight to behold. The park is divided by the city of Tuscon. We visited in November as part of our Fourth Grade Pass tour.

History

The Hohokam and Tohono O’odham inhabited the land first. This podcast interviews an ancestral guide who delves further into the indigenous history of the region.

Saguaro National Monument was designated in 1933 as an effort to curb cattle grazing and development that threatened the saguaro and the ecosystem they participate in. It became a national park in 1994. Read more on NPS.

My fourth-grader in Saguaro National Park

Saguaro West

We started on the west side of the park, which is the Tuscon Mountain District. There is a nice little visitor center with a natural history exhibit. My daughter is obsessed with the color green and therefore loved all the cactus merch available for purchase. Outside the visitor center, there is a short trail with signage explaining the plant life.

We drove around the Bajada Scenic Loop and stopped when we fancied. I really enjoyed learning about the interdependence of the saguaro and the other plants.

Our favorite stop was the Signal Hill trail. We climbed a short way to see the petroglyphs. You can get really close! My kiddo copied some of the designs into her notebook.

Tuscon

It’s about a 45-minute drive from West to East. So, we stopped in the middle to eat lunch. Tuscon is actually designated by UNESCO as a city of gastronomy. With more time, I would book ahead to explore some of that scene. But, we only had one day, and our priority was the park, so we grabbed sandwiches at an independent deli on our way through.

Saguaro East

The Rincon Mountain District portion of the park lies to the east of the city of Tuscon. The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the Cactus Loop road and it was restored in 2016. It’s a hilly drive with lots of opportunities for stops.

The Desert Ecology Trail is a short walk with more information about desert ecology. We are amateur birders, so we followed the sounds of birds and looked for their homes (holes) in the saguaro. As a game, we made up real estate commercials for birds to live.

When the kiddo had finished the junior ranger workbook (always awesome), she took it to the rangers in the visitor center. They had kids hold up two hands (to mimic the saguaro) to recite the junior ranger pledge.

Funky-shaped cactus. We made a game of posing like them.

Sunset

You really can’t beat a desert sunset. Mica View offered a wonderful vista. I would have sat and meditated, but that doesn’t always work with a child. So, I asked her to focus on the variety of colors in the sunset as she climbed around.