Saguaro National Park, Desert national park near Tucson, United States.
Saguaro National Park consists of two separate districts in southeastern Arizona: the Tucson Mountain District about 10 miles west of Tucson and the Rincon Mountain District about 10 miles east. The western district holds volcanic rocks and dense stands of saguaro cacti on hills rising to Wasson Peak at 4,687 feet; the eastern district climbs to Mica Mountain at 8,666 feet.
The region was established as a national monument in 1933 to protect the cacti from disappearing. More than six decades later, the area received national park status in 1994.
The park is named after the saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea), a cactus native to the Sonoran Desert that grows naturally nowhere else. The name is not Spanish: Rincón, as in the Rincon Mountains, is Spanish for corner, describing the range's shape, while Tucson comes from Papago-Piman words meaning dark or brown spring. The Gila woodpecker hammers nest holes into saguaro trunks.
The two areas lie roughly an hour apart by car, so it helps to plan a full day for the visit. Trails run through flat and hilly sections, with sturdy shoes and plenty of water being important.
The rocks in the western part formed through volcanic eruptions many millions of years ago. In the eastern part, layers of stone can be found that are among the oldest on Earth and more than a billion years old.
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