Seeing Saguaro National Park is like visiting another planet, but somebody should warn you about the pigs. Really, how many people know that Arizona has a wild pig population? I sure didn’t. I was shocked when I ran into these feisty fellows on a trail and hightailed it out of there. Had I known what I do now about Javelinas, I wouldn’t have run so fast.

Cactuses in Saguaro National Park

Saguaro cactuses are an icon of the old American West. The tall tubular cactus’ stands tall, green and spikey and looks like it has two arms. Put’em up, pardner. Picture John Wayne or any cowboy in chaps with pistols in hand, big Saguaros rising up in the background and you’re in Saguaro National park.

Growing up, I thought these cactus grew everywhere in the southwest, but they’re in a very limited area, making them all the more unique.

You don’t have to do anything special to see Saguaro while in Tucson, they’re everywhere, but still, you should go to the national park to see them in their full glory, taking over an entire desert. Reigning over everything as they’re probably intended to do. Just watch out for those pesky Javelinas.

Visiting Saguaro National Park

The most important thing you should know about this park is that it is broken into two sections on opposite sides of town.

The Rincon Mountain District is a 91,716 acres park also called Saguaro East. There you will find the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center, gift shop, nature trails and other amenities common to most national parks. About 10 miles away, you’ll find the other half of the park called the Tucson Mountain District. It’s where you’ll find a lot of backcountry and desert wildlife. It’s comprised of 25,000 acres and is often called Saguaro West. It can be confusing but the website offers maps.

Between the two parks, there are over 150 miles of trails where you’ll see near millions of Saguaros giving life to the phrase “grow wild.” They are wild. Many are just tall stalks, some thick, some thin but up to 60 feet tall. A Saguaro can weigh up to 4,800 pounds. Just imagine that. These things are as big as large trees. If you’ve never seen one in real life, you’ll be shocked by how big they grow. I always assumed they were just taller than your average cowboy. But some are as big as six cowboys stacked up.

The Uniqueness of Saguaro

When you see a saguaro that is wide and tall with many arms, you should respect it. They grow at an exceptionally slow rate, and the first arm typically doesn’t appear until between 50 and 70 years – they’re not even adults until they’re 125 years old.

Those arms, when they grow, don’t just grow in the classic “hands up” formation either; they grow in all sorts of directions, making each one unique. Many, if humans don’t interfere, can live 200 years.

Javelinas in Saguaro National Park

But look out for those Javelinas. I hiked in the parks several times without incident, but encountered trouble one day while hiking a 4-mile trail in Saguaro West in the Tucson Mountain District.

I was enjoying the end-of-the-day, sunset hike right until my adrenaline shot through the atmosphere. There wasn’t anyone else around (Saguaro West is much less populated), and I walked through the trail in awe as the setting sun cast the sky all the colors of a rainbow.

It was odd that I heard a dog bark, since I hadn’t seen anyone else around, but then I saw some dog tracks. After a few minutes, I saw a little blackish animal ahead on the trail my brain quickly assumed was a dog. I’m always cautious approaching dogs on trails because owners often have them unleashed and they’re not always expecting to see another person, so I slowed to a stop.

Wildlife in Saguaro National Park

Behind the first black shape I saw another and then another. For lack of a better description, they were about the size of a small dog, but hefty like a pig. As my eyes focused, I realized they were in fact pigs, not dogs! They didn’t seem to notice me, though they were only about 50 feet ahead on the same trail.

Fun Fact: Javelinas can’t see well, but they have great sense of smell. Because it was that time of night when it’s hard to see, I couldn’t tell if they were baby boars, which, being unfamiliar with Javelina, was my first thought. Plus, if these were babies, mama was likely to be nearby, so I backed up, turned around and jogged back to the trailhead. It was a quick two miles since I was already halfway through the trail. Bah! The entire time I envisioned mama boar behind me and that kept my pace steady.

Javelinas

After I got home, I looked it up and learned about Javelina. They live in Saguaro National Park and travel in packs up to 20. I thought about there being 20 in the group I saw and was grateful I had the good sense to turn around.

They’re not immediately dangerous, but they might fight a dog or bite a human if a mama feels the need to protect her offspring. In several videos, people said they and their dogs were attacked by javelina. The attacks weren’t anything too serious, but I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of it. Plus, in one video, a javelina was running like it was in the Olympic 100-meter sprint – there’s no way I could have outrun it.

All told, I did the right thing in turning around, and you should too if you’re lucky enough to spot them in the wild.

Regardless, either section of the park is well worth a trip to see two rare lifeforms: Saguaros and possibly Javelina.

Read other stories about Arizona here.

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