Meaghan Webster | Public Affairs

How to spend an afternoon exploring Saguaro National Park in Tucson, Arizona, culminating in a beautiful desert sunset.

I recently visited Tucson, Arizona for a wedding, and decided to add on some hiking adventures to make it an outdoorsy trip. Saguaro National Park is located right outside the city, so I made sure to include it in the itinerary!

With limited time, we only spent a few hours exploring the park, but we were still able to do a lot of fun exploring during that time. We timed it perfectly to be finishing up right as the sun was setting, which made for stunning views.

Read below for how we maximized our three hours exploring Saguaro!

Choosing between the east and west sections of the park

The first thing to know about planning a visit to Saguaro National Park is that it is split into two entirely separate sections: West and East. These sections are located on opposite sides of the city of Tucson.

From my research, it looked like there would be plenty of beauty to see in both sections. However, many visitors note the higher concentration of Saguaro cacti and views in the West section, so we decided to prioritize that side with our limited time.

Stopping at the The Red Hills Visitor Center

The visitor center in the park’s West side is called The Red Hills Visitor Center. After a long beautiful winding drive through the mountains and into the park boundaries, we stopped here first to fill up on extra water, grab a trail map, and get our bearings for the afternoon.

Upon arrival, we learned that we were just in time for the Visitor Center’s educational video program to start – a perfect introduction to the natural history of Saguaro and it’s towering cacti. I expected this to be a bit dry like any other park video, but it surprised me with its cinematic depictions, ending with a grand view out of the actual theater windows looking at miles of Saguaro behind the building. As a communications professional, I was very impressed and think it’s worth a watch.

Walking the Cactus Garden Trail

Right outside the Red Hills Visitor Center, you’ll find a few interconnected walking paths that are a great way to see Saguaro and other desert plants up-close, without having to do any strenuous hiking.

We chose to explore the Cactus Garden Trail, which leads you through tall Saguaro, fuzzy-looking cholla, and prickly pear cacti. At this point in the afternoon, the sun was starting to dip toward the horizon, giving each cactus a golden-hour glow.

Valley View Overlook Trail

After getting our fill of up-close cacti views near the visitor center, we drove to a trailhead for the Valley View Overlook Trail – a shorter hike that promised beautiful views of the surrounding desert.

Note: The drive in to this trailhead is a bumpy dirt road. Our sedan did okay on the terrain, but we made sure to go very slow. I would consider bringing a higher clearance car for peace of mind if I were to return.

As I began hiking this trail, I was quickly elated. The sun was setting, the moon was rising, and the giant cacti looked magnificent in the first golden and then pink, purple, and blue light.

The short trail culminates in a viewpoint overlooking the vast desert beyond, with Saguaro standing sentinel for miles and miles. This was such a beautiful way to watch the sun set.

Driving out of the park

I quickly hiked back to the car before complete darkness arrived, which meant that as we were leaving the park, we got to see the final rays of deep red light fill the sky, with dark Saguaro shadows in the foreground. This was a magical way to end our evening.

I can’t wait to return to Saguaro National Park someday and hike more trails, including on the east side! In the meantime, I hope you found this guide useful. Happy trails!