Saguaro National Park

Saguaro National Park ↗️ comes in two pieces -- Tucson Mountain District (west) and Rincon Mountain District (east) -- with the city of Tucson in between. It's just 20 minutes from my home, so it's a real shame I don't get over there more often.

The park was established to protect the famous saguaro cactus and related species. The saguaros are distinctive, and are a keystone species for the local ecosystem.

Rincon Mountain District (East)

The east side, which is closer for me, is a riparian area -- there is almost always some water available, collected in small pools, trickling out of crevices in the rocks, or, occasionally, running in swift torrents immediately following a heavy rainfall.

At the visitor center, there's a great video talking about how the ecosystem works, and the amazing diversity of species in this part of the desert.