Saguaro National Park is a beautiful national park nestled between multiple mountain ranges in the Tucson, Arizona area. It’s divided into two districts, the east and the west, and both districts offer a scenic loop drive. In this article, though, I’l focus on the Cactus Forest Drive found in the East District.
What is Cactus Forest Drive?
Cactus Forest Drive is the main scenic drive found in Saguaro National Park (East District). It’s a paved, one-way, eight-mile loop road that should take you at least 45 minutes to an hour to properly explore by taking multiple stops at the different overlooks.
Fees
To take the drive, you’ll need to pay the park’s $25 entry fee good for one single, private, non-commercial vehicle or RV and all its passengers.
The National Park Service also offers the following fee-free days:
- January 20: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
- April 18: First Day of National Park Week/National Junior Ranger Day
- August 25: National Park Service Birthday
- September 26: National Public Lands Day
- November 11: Veterans Day
Hours
Cactus Forest Drive is open 6am to sunset. At times, it might open up even sooner than that.
How to get to Cactus Forest Drive
Cactus Forest Drive is very easy to get to. Simply follow directions to the main entrance of Saguaro National Park (East District) located right on Freeman Road. A good address to put in your GPS is: “Rincon Mountain Visitor Center, 3693 S Old Spanish Trail, Tucson, AZ 85730.”
Tip: If you’re just driving through Interstate 10 on a road trip, the park only takes about 15 minutes to get to from the interstate, making it a great pit stop.
The visitor center is before the loop road so if you want to visit and maybe stop and get a souvenir, you can do that before you begin your journey.
Once you pass through the entrance and make your way through the pay station, you will have a choice of turning left or turning right for a picnic area. Simply turn left and you will be on your way through the beautiful scenic loop!
What to expect on Cactus Forest Drive
Here are a number of different things to expect along Cactus Forest Drive.
One-way road
Cactus Forest Drive is a one-way road and is very easy to follow. There are quite a few turn out areas so if you are a slow driver you can simply pull over in one of these areas and let somebody pass you.
There are a couple of points that are a little bit windy and it is a pretty narrow road at times but overall this is a very easy road to drive through. The key is to remember to just drive slow, which you should be doing to enjoy the views anyway.
Overlooks
Along the way, you will come across a handful of different overlooks.
In total there are seven overlooks:
- Future generations overlook
- Sonoran desert overlook
- Cactus view overlook
- Riparian overlook
- Rincon mountains overlook
- Javelina rocks overlook
- Desert living overlook
Each of these overlooks has something different to offer.
Some offer good lookout points to admire the mountains (you’ll see the Tucson mountains to the west, the Santa Catalina mountains to the north, and the Rincon mountains to the east). Pay attention to how the vegetation changes as you look higher into the mountains as this park contains a lot of different habitats due to its unique geography and range of elevations.
You will also find some interpretive panels which will give you some interesting insight into the surrounding terrain and also into the history of the park.
I highly recommend that you stop at all of the overlooks to check everything out and learn about the area.
Each viewpoint will have a small parking lot and some of these do have time requirements and ask you to leave after 15 minutes so keep that in mind.
My favorite viewpoint is the Javelina Rocks Overlook. It offers some pretty great views and you can scramble up on some large boulders which is a lot of fun. This overlook is towards the end of the drive so it’s a perfect way to wrap up the drive or plan out a time to watch the sunset.
Saguaro cactuses
Saguaro cactuses are the name sake of this national park and so as you would expect you will encounter many of these towering over the road. If you really want a good look at these cactuses then I suggest getting out on a trail but at some of these overlooks you can get some pretty good views.
Trailheads
There are quite a few trailheads that are located directly on Cactus Forest Drive.
If you’re looking for a trail to quickly hop out of your car and walk around for about 15 to 20 minutes then consider the Desert Ecology Trail (this is also the only official trail dogs are allowed on).
Another easy and pretty short trail is the Freeman Homestead Nature Trail which offers opportunities to encounter great horned owls.
The Mica View Trail would be another great option for an easier stroll as it is partially paved.
For something a little bit longer, the Cactus Forest Trail runs through the middle of the Cactus Forest Drive loop and you can start it at the north or south side of the loop.
If you’re trying to exert more effort then consider doing the Tanque Verde Ridge Trail and taking it up as high as you would like for some fantastic views.
Tip: In some cases, hikers have to cross the road to get to the trail head so be on the lookout for them.
Hikers and cyclists
A lot of cyclists enjoy cycling through the park and on many days you will encounter quite a few people on bikes. On some portions of the road, there is a designated bike lane but in other spots there is not so always be mindful of them.
Tip: Approach the cyclists slowly and lots of times they will wave you forward making it easy to navigate past them.
Also, even though there are many trails through the park, some people like to hike or jog along Cactus Forest Drive.
For this reason, you need to be extra cautious and drive slow. The road is not always very wide and so you want to always be careful.
Wildlife
You might come across some wildlife when driving through the park. Typically, from the road I usually see bunnies hopping around and some interesting birds perched on top of saguaro cacti. But be mindful that you might see other vulnerable creatures crossing the road like desert tortoises or Gila monsters.
Picnic areas
Saguaro National Park has a couple of picnic areas. Some of these are even covered too so you can enjoy the shade. One of the popular picnic areas is the Mica view picnic area and the other is the Javelina picnic area.
Final word
Cactus Forest Drive is a nice way to spend about an hour cruising around and checking out the scenery. If you’ve never been to this region, then this is a perfect way to get introduced to the different types of vegetation and potentially wildlife. I definitely think it is worth your time to stop at a few of these overlooks and to hop on one of the short trails as well.