Saguaro National Park - Cactus Forest Dr., 360º & 4k
The Saguaro National Park, located in southeastern Arizona, was created in 1994 and is one of the 63 national parks of the United States. It covers approximately 372 square kilometers (some 92,000 acres) over two separate areas - the Rincon Mountain District and the Tucson Mountain District, each one located at about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east and west of the city of Tucson respectively. The park is notable for its Sonoran Desert nature and particularly for many the many giant saguaro cacti that populate it.
This video takes us through the entire Cactus Forest Drive, a 13.4-kilometer (8.3-mile) loop road which is one of the most visited parts of Rincon Mountain District. The drive allow visitors to experience the Sonoran landscape, flora and fauna and offers beautiful views of the Rincon Mountains to the south. Cactus Forest Drive provides access to several trailheads of varying degrees of difficulty, such as the Cactus Forest Trail and, crossing the Javelina West Wash three times, takes these visitors to place like the Mica View and Javelina picnic areas.
Highlights:
00:04 - Start of Cactus Forest Drive near the Rincon Mountain Visitor Center
00:23 - Future Generations Overlook
01:49 - Crossing Javelina West Wash
02:45 - Sonoran Desert Overlook
04:31 - Crossing Javelina West Wash (again)
05:23 - Cactus Forest Overlook
07:09 - Shantz Trail and Mica View Road on the left
08:01 - Crossing Javelina West Wash (third time)
08:07 - Desert Ecology Trailhead
09:08 - Cactus Forest North Trailhead
10:43 - Mesquite Trail on the left, parallel to road
11:01 - Loma Verde Trailhead
12:27 - Riparian Overlook
15:05 - Rincon Mountains Overlook
16:17 - Crossing Javelina Wash
17:55 - Javelina Rocks Overlook
19:59 - Freeman Homestead Trailhead and Javelina Picnic Area to the left
21:11 - Cactus Forest South Trailhead
23:32 - Desert Living Overlook
23:51 - End of Cactus Forest Road
Soundtrack:
00:01 - 08:13 : Glories, “Chosen Forms”
08:14 - 13:45 : Deer Park Ranger, “Counterpart”
13:46 - 19:02 : Mooncake, “Message from Arecibo”
19:03 - 24:00 : The Sun Burns Bright, “Footprints”