We couldn’t have been more thrilled to have our next step be Tucson, Arizona. Shane and I love Arizona but hadn’t been this far south before and after experiencing (and surviving) the Polar Vortex in Texas, the desert of Arizona was more welcomed than ever.
On my quest to check off new National Parks, I had planned this part of the trip to visit Saguaro National Park. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Downtown Tucson is nearby. We love getting to experience nature while being in such close proximity to city life.
ACCOMODATIONS
Saguaro doesn’t have camping facilities so we opted for a county park, Gilbert Ray Campground. Gilbert Ray was a GEM. Apparently we got very lucky with our reservation because it’s typically booked up. (We met some locals who said they wait months for a reservation.)
What made the park so wonderful is that it is tucked inside the Tucson Mountain Park. Within a stones throw you can find several trailheads and beautiful outlooks. The park is also only 20 minutes to Downtown and 15 minutes from the Saguaro National Park West entrance, which made exploring very easy.
But mostly, Gilbert Ray is fantastic because Tucson is part of the Dark Sky Program, meaning that ordinances require outside lights to be turned off by 10 p.m. Being isolated in Tucson Mountain Park, the sky was pitch black and every star was on display. (Even without waiting until sundown, the sunsets lit up the sky with vibrant oranges and reds on the horizon of saguaros.)
Fun Fact:
When we arrived at Gilbert Ray, we noticed practically every site had their car hood propped up with anything imaginable. (Seriously, we saw someone use a tequila bottle…) We couldn’t imagine that everyone was having car issues so when we had the campground host drive past us, we jumped at the opportunity to ask.
It turns out the area is known to have pack rats and they like to burrow into your engine due to the darkness and warmth. While they’re in the engine, they are trying to find things to bring back to their nests. While this is usually twigs and such in the wild, when they’re in your car that means they nibble at your wires. The campground host said that he’s seen it cost someone up to $5,000 in damages! Needless to say, that was all we needed to hear. We popped the hood immediately once we got back to our site. We also learned to put a light source underneath to illuminate it and make it as uncomfortable as possible for the pack rat. You learn something new every day!
DAY ONE in tucson
We started the day by heading into Downtown Tucson. From our campground we went down Gate Pass Road. Even if you aren’t staying out in this area, I recommend taking this scenic drive. It’s a beautiful drive through the Tucson Mountain Park.
Our first stop was Barrio Viejo, which is a landmark of the Mexican influence in the city. We chose to walk around ourselves since we had our dog with us, but honestly, we weren’t sure what we should do here. It’s mostly residential homes and even though the architecture is beautiful and makes you feel like you’re in Mexico, there wasn’t much to do. We did see others taking a bike tour and this is probably the best way to do it if you’re interested in this history and architecture.
After you’ve worked up an appetite, visit Barrio Brewing Co. for a refreshment.
I reached out to a friend who lives in town and she recommended El Charro for lunch. I’m SO happy we did this! The downtown location is the original founded in 1922. It claims to be the oldest continuously running Mexican restaurant in America. The food was delicious and we especially enjoyed the dessert trio: tres leches, caramel flan, and a chocolate-hazelnut tamal. We had never had a dessert tamale before and it is still something we talk about that makes our mouthes water.
DAY TWO in tucson
Saguaro National Park is split into two tracts. Because we were staying west of Tucson, we chose to visit Saguaro West. It was only a 13 minute drive from our campground. Saguaro East was more like a 45-minute drive. The West portion was gorgeous and great for seeing the saguaros lining the mountains. We started with the Desert Discovery Nature Trail and finished with a hike on the Signal Hill trail to see petroglyphs.
If you’re trying to decide for yourself which of the two parks to visit, here are the main differences:
- The scenic loop road in West is unpaved; it is paved in East.
- East is closer to city amenities. West is more isolated as it iss tucked in the Tucson Mountain Park.
- If you’re here to see saguaros, West has a higher concentration.
- There are far more hiking trail options at East.
DAY THREE in tucson
On our third day, we chose to stay within Tucson Mountain Park and went for a run to the Brown Mountain trailhead which is just outside our campground entrance.
Truthfully, this may have been our favorite hike during our time here. Saguaro was beautiful, and we certainly love a desert landscape, but the hikes within the park were pretty one-note. Meaning that when you see if from one place you feel like you’ve seen the entire thing. Brown Mountain was multi-dimensional. You had elevation; rocks; and panoramic views of Saguaro, Tucson, and beyond.
It’s about a 4-mile hike out and back and I highly recommend sunscreen. It was a beautiful 60 degree day and I ended up with some veryyy red shoulders once we got home. But it was worth it! A local we passed on our hike recommended hiking up to the peak and then turning back and heading home the same way so that’s what we did.
CONCLUSION
In general, we were so impressed with Tucson because it had all the city amenities you would need (thank you Walmart grocery pickup) and equally had you feeling totally surrounded by nature.
If we had more time, we would have ventured out to Saguaro East but felt like we had a very authentic experience by doing just the western area.
Another national park down! ✔