Saguaro National Park East is a pretty cool place. Derek and I ride the loop out to it and then do a lap or two of the park and it makes for a great road ride. The road loop in the park is one way which makes for a nice experience because for the most part, on bikes we are going the same speed as cars so nobody passes us. We also have hiked in this park a few times and it’s a great close to town option.
This time we drove out to the picnic area and hiked up the to the ridge line and back. This is a moderately hard route in that it climbs on pretty rocky and at times, steep terrain. This keeps it interesting since you aren’t just plodding along a trail. Another plus for this hike is it’s an out and back so uphill as far as you want to go and then back down. The sign at the start had a destination that was 19 miles away so if you want to overnight camp, this would be a good place to do it.
The vegetation is desert. This is Saguaro National Park so there are plenty saguaros, but also every other form of cacti. Mountain lions are around, as are all sorts of birds. The views from the ridge are spectacular and this is a great spot to catch sunset.
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