Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
466
VISITOR INFORMATION
For information, contact
Organ Pipe Cactus National
Monument
(
&
520/387-6849;
www.nps.gov/orpi). The visitor center is open daily
from 8am to 5pm, although the park itself is open 24 hours a day. The visitor center is
closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.
EXPLORING THE MONUMENT
Two well-graded gravel roads lead through different sections of this large national monu-
ment, and many visitors are content to just drive through this unusual landscape. For the
best scenery in the park, follow Ajo Mountain Drive, a 21-mile one-way loop, that
meanders through the rugged foothills of the Ajo Mountains. Along this route, you can
get out and hike the Arch Canyon, Estes Canyon, or Bull Pasture trails. Alternatively, if
you are short on time, take Puerto Blanco Drive, a 5-mile route leading to the Pinkley
Peak picnic area. Guides available at the park's visitor center explain natural features of
the landscape along both drives. In the winter, there are guided van tours of Ajo Moun-
tain Drive, as well as guided hikes. Much of the monument is now closed to the public
due to safety concerns about the use of this area by illegal immigrants crossing the border
from Mexico. Be sure to check with the national monument before planning any hikes.
WHERE TO STAY
There are two campgrounds within the park. Campsites are $8 in primitive
Alamo
Campground
and $12 in the more developed
Twin Peaks Campground.
The nearest
lodgings are in Ajo, with several old and very basic motels as well as a B&B. There are
also plenty of budget chain motels in the town of Gila Bend, 70 miles north of the
monument.
Guest House Inn Bed & Breakfast
Built in 1925 as a guesthouse for mining
executives, this B&B has attractive gardens in the front yard, a mesquite thicket off to
one side, and a modern Southwestern feel to its interior decor. Guest rooms are simply
furnished with reproduction antique and Southwestern furnishings. There are sunrooms
on both the north and the south sides of the house.
700 Guest House Rd., Ajo, AZ 85321.
&
520/387-6133.
www.guesthouseinn.biz. 4 units. $89 double.
Rates include full breakfast. Children 4 and under stay free in parent's room. MC, V.
In room:
A/C, fridge,
hair dryer, Internet.
14
EN ROUTE TO TUCSON
If you're on your way from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to Tucson, you will
pass through the large Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. To learn more about this
tribe, stop at the
Tohono O'odham Nation Cultural Center & Museum,
Fresnal Can-
yon Road, Topawa (
&
520/383-0201
), south of the community of Sells. The museum
is in a beautiful modern building with attractive gardens, and, although displays are
designed primarily for tribal members, there is also plenty to interest anyone not from
the reservation. A gift shop sells baskets, native wild foods, and other interesting gift
items. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 4pm; admission is
free. To find the museum, drive 9 miles south from Sells on Indian Rte. 19 and watch
for a water tower. Turn left here onto unpaved Fresnal Canyon Road and drive a quarter-
mile.
