Agile Trekker: Saguaro National Park (East side)

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/22/2025	1.9 miles	47 minutes	45'	1.9	87.8 miles

Parking:

Mica View Trailhead

Map:

Gai GPS

Directions:

Take the Mica View Trail north to the Broadway Trailhead. Turn right and take the Cactus Forest Trail south. Turn right onto Javelina Wash. Turn right onto the Mica View Trail and return to the parking area.

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
3/22/2025	0.3 miles	12 minutes	32'	2.9	88.1 miles

Parking:

Desert Ecology Trailhead

Map:

Gai GPS

Directions:

Follow the Desert Ecology Trail in a loop.

We spent the morning driving from El Paso, TX to Tucson, AZ. We got to Saguaro National Park early enough that we could get some hiking in. Half of the park is west of Tucson and half of the park is east of Tucson. We visited the east side today. We went to the Rincon visitor center and were greeted by protesting park supporters. We cheered them on! So happy to see people standing up for public lands.

We drove around a park loop road and stopped at the overlooks. We also did some mini hikes. It was 80 degrees with no shade, so we were very hot and chugging water. The Arizona Trail goes through the east side of the park.

While at the park, our rental car's rearview mirror fell off :( As we were hiking out of the park, we saw 5 fighter jets flying in formation. It turns out there is an air force base here, but the fighter jets were part of an air show. There is also an airplane graveyard in Tucson. Visitation of it is very limited though.

We went grocery shopping in the evening, and I picked up some Mexican salty tamarind candy. I like it! We stopped at our hotel to drop off our luggage and then drove to the Tucson airport to get a new rental car. My hip hurt a lot today.