Saguaro National Park – Tucson, Arizona

I’m not a big fan of the desert landscape…it just doesn’t do much for me. Having gone through a ranger naturalist walk at Saguaro National Park, I am now much more appreciative of the subtle complexities of the desert neighbourhood and the different plants and animals that make it home.

Saguaro National Park is actually split into 2 parks, with the city of Tucson in between them. They are large tracts of land that protect this landscape from urban sprawl and the devastation that was happening due to ranching and cattle grazing.

The saguaro cactus is the quintessential symbol of the south west and it plays a critical role in the desert eco-system, often housing an handful of other animals in their stalks. A saguaro can get enough water for the year from a single summer rain storm. They have these funky accordion pleats that allow them to swell or expand to hold all of that water and then slowly shrink as they use the water up.

Thanks to the Ranger tour, we learned all about the main types of cactus in the Sonoran Desert – saguaro, fish hook barrel cactus, cholla, ocotillo, and prickly pear as well as the palo verde, creosote bush and mesquite tree. Mother nature is pretty amazing with how these plants have been created or have evolved to adapt to their incredibly harsh/challenging circumstances!

The learning that we did for the Junior Ranger program has come in handy for the rest of our desert stay…