Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Overview
This gentle stroll crosses almost the entire girth of Saguaro National Park East from
north to south. For a quick look at the desert, you can just take the Mica View Loop
(1.9 miles). The northern part of the Cactus Forest Trail intersects several other short
trails that can be explored with a map. The main trail intersects the Cactus Forest
Loop Drive at two points; mountain bikes are allowed on the 2.6-mile-long section of
trail between those points. The remains of late-19th-century lime kilns lie along this
section.
Route Details
At the trailhead you'll find a register, map board, and signed trail fork. Take the fork
bearing left (south-southeast) and, after 100 yards, take the right fork (southeast) onto
the Cactus Forest Trail itself. After about 0.6 mile, you'll cross the sandy Javelina
Wash. Surface water rarely flows, but there's enough underground moisture to support
a mesquite bosque and numerous low creosote bushes with small, shiny green leaves.
Creosote is a tough desert plant with small yellow flowers that bloom after early-
spring rains, followed by cottony white fruits. The plant is nicknamed greasewood
because it contains many resins, waxes, and oils that repel insects and grazing an-
imals and give off a distinct pungent fragrance after the first monsoonal rains wash
them out. Tucsonans patiently endure the scorching, parched early summer to celeb-
rate that special smell signaling the first cooling rains of late July: “The desert smells
like rain!”
