The desert west of Tucson is
about the hottest and driest in the USA. Much of the land is within the boundaries of the huge Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Gunnery Range and closed to the public but there is also a large Indian reservation, home of the Tohono O'Odham people. The whole area is quite densely covered by various types of cactus including the ubiquitous saguaro, sacred to the local tribe, and the much rarer organ pipe (Stenocereus Thurberi ); these grow only in the far south of the state and particularly strongly in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument - an extensive section of protected desert bordering Mexico.
Organ Pipe Map:
 PDF format map of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, from the National Park Service (792 kb).
Approach: The monument is relatively far from other popular tourist sites and is little visited. There are only two approach roads in Arizona; AZ 85 from Phoenix and AZ 86 from Tucson, the latter crossing the Indian reservation and passing close to the Kitt Peak National Observatory, the largest such establishment in the world, which is open free of charge to visitors. The journey is also notable for two very long straight stretches of road, through never-changing land filled with saguaro, making for quite a hypnotic driving experience.
Scenic Drives: State road 85 passes through the center of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and on into Mexico but a much better appreciation of the landscape is achieved by travelling along one of two loop roads at either side: the 52 mile
Puerto Blanco Drive to the west or the 21 mile Ajo Mountain Drive to the east. The shorter of the two drives still takes around two hours - it is mainly unpaved apart from a few particularly steep sections, often narrow and very bumpy - and is not recommended for RVs or caravans, but the scenery is magnificent, with imposing volcanic mountains covered with many and varied desert plants, all with no sign of civilisation. The road heads towards the foothills of the Ajo Range, a high, rocky series of hills that form the eastern monument boundary and where there are two hiking trails; Estes Canyon/Bull Pasture loop, and a path up a short side canyon to a natural arch. The return route is across the top of Sonoyta Valley, a vast plain that extends into Mexico. Besides the two loops, there is one more graded road - leading to Alamo Canyon in the northeast corner of the monument, where there is a hiking trail along a narrow valley to an old well.
Cacti: The organ pipe, which is more common in Mexico, is distinguished from the saguaro by having thinner stems and by branching mainly from the base instead of from up the central trunk. There is a third species of columnar cactus within the monument that, like the organ pipe, is not found anywhere else in the USA, namely the senita (Lophocereus Schottii ) which also branches from the base. This species has slightly thinner stems with fewer ribs and tufts of whitish hair around the growing points, and is found only in a few areas at the very south near the Mexican border. Within the monument, various species of opuntiae and ferocactus are widespread as well as other desert plants such as the ocotillo.
The Mexican Border: There is a cheap RV site in Lukeville at the south edge of the monument and just a short walk from the surrounding desert. Mexico is only half a mile away; there are several shops just across the border but little else, although the city of Sonoyta is just a few miles further south. The
Saguaro National Park is fairly similar to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the main differences being the types of cacti found there, but the latter has a heightened sense of isolation, and is rather more rugged and unspoilt.
Hotels: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is far from any large towns; the nearest places with hotels are Gila Bend and Tucson.
Selection of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument books, from amazon.com:
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For hiking in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, the 1:69,444 scale topological map from National Geographic/Trails Illustrated is a good choice; this has the map on one side and general park information on the other.
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