Saguaro National Park (TMD): Signal Hill Picnic Area – Tucson AZ

Description

The city of Tucson is flanked by two halves of the Saguaro National Park, which protects extensive areas of Sonoran Desert landscapes and the biodiverse communities of the Tucson Mountains and Rincon Mountains – two of the many “sky islands” of southern Arizona.

The eastern district of Saguaro National Park was set aside as Saguaro National Monument by President Herbert Hoover in early 1933; today, it is known as the Saguaro NP – Rincon Mountain District (RMD).  The western district of the park was originally part of the Tucson Mountain Park, a county park created in 1929; the northern section of the latter was added to the Saguaro National Monument in 1961 and when the monument became a national park in 1994, it was renamed Saguaro National Park – Tucson Mountain District (TMD).

In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did extensive improvements to both parts of the Saguaro National Park. The CCC role in the Saguaro NP (TMD) was greater than in the eastern half of the park because the latter is largely roadless wilderness and the former is more accessible to daily visitors.

Throughout the present Saguaro NP the CCC “boys” carried out a host of improvements, starting with land restoration, erosion control, access roads and water supply.  To this they added facilities for park visitors, including campgrounds, overlooks, picnic areas, trails and more.

The CCC built elegant picnic facilities in Saguaro NP (TMD) at Signal Hill, Sus, and  Ez-kim-in-zin, along the Golden Gate-Hohokam loop in the northwest corner of the park. Happily, there are panels at each of the areas detailing the role of the CCC.

Signal Hill picnic area is featured here (the signal hill trail can be found on the Trails page for the Saguaro NP).

We do not have photos of Cam-boh and Juan Santa Cruz picnic areas elsewhere in the park.