Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Our November 2024 trip to Arizona continues as we leave the Phoenix area after spending a week with friends in Scottsdale enjoying some golf and a great day trip to the Desert Botanical Garden. We are now headed to the Tucson area which neither Alison or I have ever visited, despite many previous trips to the state. However, instead of going directly to the J.W. Marriott where we will spend three nights, I am taking us on a detour to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument which protects a huge area of the Sonoran Desert right on the border with Mexico. We saw a few of these unique cacti at the Desert Botanical Gardens, but I want to see them in their natural habitat so come along and let’s find out if the extra effort to get to this remote National Monument is worth it.
First of all, let’s look at a map of Arizona’s national parks, monuments, historic sites, wildlife refuges and state parks. As you can see there are a lot of them and on this trip we’ve already visited Grand Canyon National Park as well as Walnut Canyon and Montezuma Castle National Monuments.
If you look at the bottom of the map right on the border with Mexico and well away from the main population centres of the state you’ll find Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It’s over a two hour drive from Phoenix where we are starting from and then another two hours to Tucson where we hope to end up. There are almost no towns of any significance once you get past Gila Bend which itself has less than 2,000 people. Don’t be fooled by the aptly named settlement of Why just north of the entrance to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It’s just a collection of trailers and has only about 100 residents. Once you go east from Why on the way to Tucson there is almost nothing until you reach the outskirts of that city. So if you are going to visit Organ Pipe Cactus N.M. you are really going to get a good look at the Sonoran Desert and not much else.
Which brings up the next question – why bother? Well as it turns out, people have been coming to and living in this area for at least 16,000 years. From about 300 BCE to 1450 the Hohokam culture flourished in the Sonoran Desert, building a system of canals that was only exceeded in size and complexity by those built by the Incas in South America. Unlike some of the places of Indigenous settlement we have already visited in Arizona which usually did not last for more than a few centuries, if that, Hohokam settlements remained in one spot for well over a thousand years – Casa Grande Ruins National Monument between Phoenix and Tucson, preserves the remains of one such settlement. And then they just dispersed and seemingly disappeared from history around ninety years before the first Europeans arrived. To this day there is no agreement as to how or why this happened. The modern day Tohono O’odham trace their ancestry to the Hohokams, but the massive canal system built by their ancestors is long gone and there are probably fewer people living in the Sonoran Desert today than there were 1,000 years ago.
There is one feature of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument that separates it from other parts of the Sonoran Desert and as you might have guessed, it is the presence of the organ pipe cactus, which only grow in the wild in this remote part of Arizona and adjoining northern Mexico. The ones we saw at the Desert Botanical Garden were collected here and replanted in the Phoenix area. So the reason to take the trouble to come here is to see an ecosystem that you can’t see anywhere else on earth and for me that is like a siren call – it cannot be resisted.
The uniqueness of the organ pipe cactus ecosystem was recognized first in 1937 when President Roosevelt used his powers under the Antiquities Act to declare it a national monument. Presidents have this power to designate federal lands without congressional approval. National Parks on the other hand can only be established by an act of congress. The decision was controversial at the time as there were extensive ranching and mining enterprises operating within the boundaries and some of these continued right up until 1976. In that year Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve which ensured an even higher level of protection going forward.
However, even with this international recognition of the importance of preserving the organ pipe cactus environment, things did not go smoothly. Being as remote as it is, this area of the U.S./Mexico border is a prime place for Mexican drug smugglers to get their illicit drugs into Arizona and from there throughout the country. In 2002 Park Ranger Kris Eggle was murdered by cartel members within the park boundaries, resulting in the closure of most of Organ Pipe Cactus N.M. for over a decade.
Here is a map of the national monument. After passing the sign shown above you proceed for 17 miles (28 kms.) to the Visitor Centre named for the fallen ranger. From here there are two ways to explore the park in your vehicle. The first is to take the Ajo Mountain loop which starts directly across from the Visitor Centre and that’s what we’ll be doing, because it’s always open. The second is the much longer Puerto Blanco Drive, the southern portion of which goes directly along the U.S./Mexico border. Given what’s going on with the drug smugglers and human traffickers and/or what’s going on with Trump’s wall this portion of the park may or may not be open. Even if it is, travelling along a lonely dirt road in an area frequented by some of the world’s most vicious criminals, might not be the best way to explore Organ Pipe Cactus N.M.
So after a quick stop at the Visitor Center, we crossed the road to take the Ajo Mountain loop.
Although the warning sign might scare off some people not driving an SUV or a truck, the road actually was not too bad and probably would have been suitable for most cars. However, there is no cell service and we only saw a couple of other people on the entire loop so if something does go wrong, you could be stuck for a while. Also, even though we weren’t exactly right on the Mexican border there is just a bit of trepidation being this close in any area this remote. I had to banish thoughts of No Country for Old Men from my mind.
That being said, Alison and I enjoyed a wonderful two hours or so, with frequent stops, exploring Organ Pipe Cactus N.M.
Starting out you might think you were in Saguaro National Park and not Organ Pipe Cactus N.M. as the saguaros are far more common than the organ pipes.
But that quickly changes as you go higher up in elevation and get the first close up look at a wild organ pipe cactus. It is a species that thrives with heat and cannot tolerate frost which is why they are found on the south side of the mesas and hills of Organ Pipe Cactus N.M. Here’s an interesting fact – these cacti did not arrive in this, the most northern part of their range, until about 3,500 years ago, over 10,000 years after the first humans got here. It was a direct result of global warming after the last Ice Age.
Over time, the Tohono O’odham and presumably the Hohokam before them, evolved a life cycle that was very much connected to that of the organ pipe cactus. These cacti start to bear fruit only when they reach the age of 35 and can continue to do so for another century or more. The flowers come out at night in May and June and are pollinated mostly by long-nosed bats. Once pollinated the organ pipe cactus produces fruits that look like this. They are apparently sweet and juicy and the annual harvest by the Tohono O’odam is a big event on their calendar. Aside from being eaten fresh, the fruits can be made into juices, jellies, sauces and syrup. I’m kicking my ass while writing this for not buying some when I had the chance.
Obviously we did not see the organ pipe cactus in bloom or fruit visiting as we were in November, but nevertheless they are a magnificent sight in an ecosystem that is about as far removed from that of my native Nova Scotia as can be imagined.
Organ pipes and saguaros are not the only cactus species you’ll see on a visit to Organ Pipe Cactus N.M. There are a great variety of chollas as well.
There are also some interesting landforms. You can trail a trail up to get a closer look at this double arch, something I’ve never seen before.
Lastly, as you begin to descend again and the saguaros replace the organ pipe cactus, you get this look straight toward Mexico
So was it worth using up an entire day just to get to this desert loop in Organ Pipe Cactus N.M.? Damn right it was!
Next we head to Tucson for three days at the J.W.Marriott at Starr Pass where there will be some more golf and a day trip to Chiricahua National Monument as well as Tombstone. Hope you’ll join us.