Saguaro National Park

Yesterday we went to Saguaro National Park West.  “The park gets it’s name from the saguaro, a large cactus, native to the Sonoran Desert that doesn’t grow naturally elsewhere.  The earliest known residents of the land were the Hohokam, who lived there in villages between 200 and 1450 AD.  Petroglyphs and broken pottery are among the Hohokam artifacts found in the park. 

Spanish explorers first entered Arizona in 1539-1540.  Non-native settlement of the region didn’t occur until 1692 with the founding of San Xavier Mission along the Santa Cruz River, which flowed through Tucson.  In 1775, the Spaniards built Presidio San Agustin del Tucson, a military fort in what was then part of New Spain.  The lands that became Saguaro National Park remained relatively free of development until the mid-19th century, after Arizona became part of the United States.  President Hoover created Saguaro National Monument in 1933 and President Kennedy added land in 1961.  Today, Saguaro National Park covers 92,000 acres, and has two sections, one on either side of the City of Tucson.”

We hiked to Signal Peak, with over 200 petroglyphs, created 550 to 1550 years ago.  The saguaros and surrounding mountains are extraordinarily beautiful.  Taylor earned another Junior Ranger Badge!