This year, for fall break, we had initially planned to visit Boston. The last few years, we have enjoyed touring some of the great cities of the U.S., Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, and had intended to continue that tradition.
However, since the kids’ break fell after the end of baseball season, we decided to hold off on Boston for now and revisit the idea when we can see a game at Fenway. Instead, we found a place where we could easily fly and visit a National Park. The winner was Phoenix, which is about an hour north of Tucson, which is smack dab in the middle of Saguaro National Park.
To begin with, it is pronounced ‘sa-war-oh’ which I feel a little stupid saying, and is named for a pretty spectacular cactus that kind of reminds me a live oak with needles. This symbol of the American west is only found is small areas of the country and can be seen en masse in this unique National Park.
We flew out after school on Friday evening and landed in Phoenix, where we picked up a car from Budget. Total side note, if you have the opportunity to rent from Budget, I suggest that you might just be better off walking, no matter how far you have to go. No matter what the circumstances, it always takes at least 45 minutes to get your car from Budget, which is even more frustrating if you have ever rented from Hertz, National or Enterprise. I digress, but let me just close the book on this by saying that Budget sucks.
We drove about 15 minutes south and spent that night in a Hampton Inn in Chandler, AZ. I have stayed in many Hampton Inns before, and this one was underwhelming, but I can say that it was a better experience than I had with Budget.
That Friday day and night was basically a travel day, so we got up early, stopped at McDonald’s and headed south. We made a quick stop at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. It is believed that this complex was a meeting place for the Sonoran people, but the actual purpose of the large house is relatively unknown. It was a cool stop and another place to get the passport books stamped.
We probably stayed less than an hour, then made our way onto the main attraction. An interesting aspect of Saguaro is that it is split in two, with Tucson directly in the middle. The two halves are both pretty cool but are both quite distinct.
After getting our books stamped, we took the Bajada Loop drive, which is about an 8 mile excursion with multiple interesting places to stop. Our first stop was the Valley View Overlook, which takes you out into the desert to a great view of thousands of Saguaro cacti. It is less than a mile in-and-out and is a great introduction to the park.
Our next stop was at the Signal Hill petroglyphs, where indigenous artwork from hundreds of years prior can be experienced up close. I strongly recommend this drive and both of these stops. It is a great way to dive into Saguaro, and great way to experience the identity of the western half of the park.
Saguaro’s is interesting in that the east and western sides are actually quite different. Whilst both prominently feature the saguaro, the western half is far more of a flat desert, whereas the eastern side has vast changes in elevation, and is far more mountainous. If you are ambitious, both sides can probably be seen in one day, but we decided to break it up into a Saturday and Sunday.
For the rest of that Saturday, we tried to find something a bit less rugged for the kids to do, so we drove south for about an hour and a half to the frontier town of Tombstone. If you’ve never seen the movie, you should; it’s awesome. And honestly, the town did not disappoint.
We had not real plans going in, but ended up eating at Big Nose Kate’s Saloon. Kate was Doc Holiday’s girlfriend, and her saloon is built on top of an actual bar that Doc and the Earp brothers frequented. It is certainly kitschy, but the food was good and the atmosphere is unique. The kids really enjoyed it, and the sell big ass beers, so that’s something.
After lunch, we took the kids over to Outlaw Ziplines, which only offers one zip, but there are several targets along the way that you can shoot with a laser gun. It is not a classic outdoor, awe-inspiring ride, but shooting the ‘bandits’ is a lot of fun, and it would be harder to find people working anywhere that are nicer than the staff.
Afterwards, on our way out of town, we swung through the Boothill Graveyard to check out the tombstones of the Clanton’s and McLaury’s, men killed during that shootout at the OK Corral. I really enjoyed our short stint in this old timey town. We only spent a few hours, but you could easily make a multi-day experience of it. There are several cool restaurants, tourist experiences and museums, and if I had the chance, I would definitely go back.
Our lunch in Tombstone was a late one, so we checked into the hotel and hung out there for the night. The place that we stayed, the Hotel McCoy, was a really interesting place. We discovered a website called Hip Lodge that helps travelers find old roadside motels that have been refurbished and converted into modern lodging. Hotel McCoy is really cool. It’s got a great atmosphere, a great pool and a cool lobby and bar. Staying at a place like this really helps to make the trip more fun than staying in a typical Holiday or Hampton Inn.
The next morning we woke and drove around the perimeter of the east side of the park to a trailhead of the Douglas Spring Trail. This trail is over 16 miles one way, but there is an interesting stopping point about 3 miles in called Bridal Wreath Falls.
Without telling the kids the length, we set off on this trek that is relatively strenuous and has a serious elevation change. It is a beautiful hike and extremely worthwhile. That said, at this time of year, the waterfall was little more than a trickle, and the pool at the bottom was nonexistent. This was a great way to spend the morning, and knocking out a 6 mile hike feels quite satisfying, but it would have been better if the fall had been flowing.
Afterwards, we gave the kids a break and went to eat at El Guero Canelo. This is a local chain, but it is very unique, and the food is great. On the ‘must-try’ list for Tucson is the Sonoran hotdog. This is a hotdog, wrapped in bacon, covered with a whole bunch of crazy crap, and it is delicious. We all got one to varying degrees, and we were all quite pleased.
We spent that early afternoon in the hotel pool, relaxing until about 4:30 pm, when we made our way back to the eastern part of Saguaro. We stopped at the Rincon Mountain Visitors Center (which is nothing special) and made our way onto the Cactus Forest Drive, which takes tourists through the mountainous half of the park.
We planned it so that we would arrive at a specific stop, the Javelina Rocks Overlook, in time for the sunset. This stop has some really large boulders that are perfect for climbing, and we got there in plenty of time to see the sun drop over the horizon. It was a little cloudy, so the view wasn’t quite as inspiring as the sunset we watched in White Sands, but it was still pretty breathe taking.
That night, we ate at an authentic Mexican cafe called El Charro. The place was slammed, especially for a Sunday night, but the food was good, and the atmosphere was great. It was a nice way to cap off what felt like a perfect vacation day.
The following morning, we checked out and went to get breakfast tacos at a local hole called Maicos. The food was really high quality, and again, the people who served us were as fantastic. Since our flight did not leave until the late afternoon, we made a slight detour to another National Park site.
The Tonto National Monument protects two cliff dwellings dating back hundreds of years. The higher dwelling requires advanced reservations and is about a four hour round trip. The lower dwelling can be toured at anytime, and is only about a steep, half-mile walk. My wife and I love these dwellings. They are so unique and fun to tour, but almost more fun to look at from a distance. Tonto is great place to visit, and another great place to get your passport book stamped.
We made our way back to Phoenix, drove the rental car into a ditch and got on plane home. Saguaro is a really unique park with lots to see. It does not require multiple days and frankly, is unlikely to blow your mind, but it is worth seeing and good way to spend your time in southern Arizona.