Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park is an American national park in Pima County, southeastern Arizona. The park consists of two separate parcels, the Tucson Mountain District to the west of Tucson, Arizona, and the Rincon Mountain District to the east. The name Saguaro derives from the saguaro, a large cactus that is native to the Sonoran Desert and that does not grow naturally elsewhere.

About Saguaro National Park in brief

Summary Saguaro National ParkSaguaro National Park is an American national park in Pima County, southeastern Arizona. The park consists of two separate parcels, the Tucson Mountain District to the west of Tucson, Arizona, and the Rincon Mountain District to the east. Popular activities in the park include hiking on its 165 miles of trails and sightseeing along paved roads near its two visitor centers. About 71,000 acres of the park, including large fractions of both districts, is designated wilderness. The name Saguaro derives from the saguaro, a large cactus that is native to the Sonoran Desert and that does not grow naturally elsewhere. The largest riparian zone for the park is the Pantano Wash, which crosses from southeast to northwest to meet Tanque Verde Wash. The two wasillhes form the Rillito River wash, an east–west tributary of the Santa Cruz River, which is generally dry, but is subject at times to flash floods. The Rincons, as one of the Madrean Sky Islands between the southern Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexico, support high biodiversity and are home to many plants and animals that do not live in the Tucson mountain district. The Rincon Mountains are significantly higher and wetter than the Tucson Mountains and range from 2,180 to 4,687 feet, the summit of Wasson Peak. The Tucson Mountain Park abuts the south side of the Tucsonountain District, and to its west lies the Avra Valley. In 1961, President John F.

Kennedy added the Tucsonmountain district to the national park. Congress combined the Tucson and Rinconmountain districts to form the park in 1994. The total combined area in 2016 was 91,716 acres. The park lies within the watershed of the north-flowing Santa Cruz river, which runs through the RinCon Mountain District. The national park was established in 1933 by President Herbert Hoover, using the power of the Antiquities Act, in the Rin Con Mountains. It was added to the U.S. National Park Service in 1961 by President Kennedy, who renamed the original tract the RinCON Mountain District and added it to the National Park System. It is located about 10 miles west of the city of Tucson and 10 miles east of the town of Avra. Both districts conserve tracts of the Sonora Desert, including ranges of significant hills, the. Tucson Mountains in the west and the. Rincon mountains in the east, as well as the Rincon Valley south of the western part of the valley. The biggest springs in both districts are found near Camp Manning and Camp Manning, near the largest springs at Manning, the largest of the Campajas springs at Camp Manning. There is no overnight camping in the Tucson Mountain District, but there is limited wilderness camping in the Rincon Mountain District in the Tucson District. The Rincón is Spanish for corner, and refers to the shape of the mountain range and its footprint.