The visitor center at Saguaro West is open all year from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm every day except Christmas.

This is a very attractive visitor center with spectacular views of mountains and Saguaros right from its back porch. The visitor center has cultural and natural history exhibits of the Sonoran Desert. You can see a 15-minute program called “Voices of the Desert”, giving a Native American perspective of the Sonoran Desert. There is also a great bookstore run by the Western National Parks Association.

Saguaro National Park is composed of two distinct districts: The Rincon Mountain District and the Tucson Mountain District. The Tucson Mountain District lies on the west side of Tucson, Arizona, while the Rincon Mountain District lies on the east side of Tucson. Both districts were formed to protect and exhibit forests of their namesake plant: the Saguaro Cactus.

Most people think of Saguaro National Park as being a desert park. True, the lower elevations of the park encompass Sonoran Desert Vegetation, but there is much more to Saguaro National Park than just cacti.

The Tucson Mountain District of Saguaro National Park ranges from an elevation of 2,180 ft to 4,687 ft and contains 2 biotic communities, desert scrub, and desert grassland. The average annual precipitation is approximately 10.27 in. Common wildlife includes the coyote, Gambel’s quail, and desert tortoise.