Le parc national de Saguaro est un parc national américain situé près de Tucson, dans le comté de Pima, au sud de l’Arizona.
D'une superficie de 370 km2, le parc est reconnu pour ses nombreux cactus, dont le plus célèbre est le Saguaro. Le parc est situé du côté oriental du désert de Sonora et se compose de plaines désertiques, mais aussi de zones montagneuses où des espèces moins résistantes à l'aridité parviennent à se développer, grâce au climat plus humide en altitude.
L'occupation humaine de la région remonte à environ 7 000 ans, durant la période archaïque, mais aucune preuve archéologique n'indique pourtant que l'Homme y vivait en permanence. Les régions environnantes du parc sont habitées par la peuplade précolombienne des Hohokams entre les IIe et XVe siècles, puis par des Amérindiens Sobaipuri et Tohono O'odham, qui y limitent leurs activités à la chasse et à la cueillette.
Les premiers explorateurs européens, d'origine espagnole, découvrent le sud de l'Arizona au milieu du XVIe siècle, et les premiers colons s'y installent à la fin du XVIIIe siècle. L'Arizona rejoint les États-Unis seulement en 1912. Créé en 1933 en tant que Monument national de Saguaro (Saguaro National Monument), il devient parc national le 14 octobre 1994. Depuis, le National Park Service s'occupe de la protection des richesses naturelles et culturelles du parc, qui accueille chaque année près de 700 000 visiteurs.
Hands down one of the best National Parks we've been to. Try to make time to visit both the East and West parks. We went in August 2021so summer heat plus covid made the park near empty. We didn't do any hikes longer than 2 miles, again summer heat but even the short ones are awesome :) Also a nice thing in the parks right now is that they are generally enforcing the indoor masking policy and capacity limits.
Saguaro Park Consists of both East and West. There are so many amazing trails to hike and wildlife to view. If you don’t have time for a hike, be sure and drive through the West side where the highest concentrations of Saguaros reside. The amount of cacti, flowers, and wildlife is truly amazing. A trip to the museum to view the amazing wildlife is also worth a stop.
A small National Park for Saguaro cacti. Very huge cactus' are found here. This place is also known for large number of flora and fauna.
My favorite National Park, LOVE me some Saguaros! Hot, hot, hot out there. Bring loads of water! We visited the West side of the park. The drive through Grants pass is breath taking! Please go slow around blind corners, you will come across some brave bicycle riders out there and there is zero room for them.
This was perhaps the most lovely national park I've ever seen, and certainly the best in Arizona. For the penultimate desert feel and experience, this is it. It is dense and easily accessible, not crowded, and offers a true John Wayne feel.
Great views of the Saguaro cactus, paddle cactus and the barrel cactus. Nice 8 mile driving loop with stops to take pictures. Also has parking spots that have trail heads to enjoy a walk. Went in the morning and it was nice but could tell it was going to get hot in the afternoon
So many trails to explore and trails for all ability levels. It is a great place to get out and left nature soothe you
We thoroughly enjoyed driving the loop trail based out of the Rincon Visitor Center in Saguaro National Park. It took us about an hour to drive around it, and we stopped about every five minutes to take another fantastic shot of the amazing landscape. It was really enjoyable to see the iconic cacti all around you and get familiar with life in the desert under such extreme conditions.