On the drive around the park in the West/Tucson Mountain district, we stopped at Signal Hill Picnic area and took a short trail up to the largest petroglyph site in the Tucson Mountain District of Saguaro National Park.

The Saguaro Cactus (pronounced saw-war-oh) only grows in the Sonoran Desert . This desert is located in Mexico, Arizona, and just a small portion of the Baja peninsula in California. These cacti can grow up to 50 feet tall and live over 200 years!

Located about an hour south of Tucson is a gem of a national park that many people have not heard about. Tumacácori National Historical Park takes you back in time to the late 1600s when Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries were traveling north from Mexico to bring European values and farming techniques to indigenous people of the area (O’odham, Yaqui, and Apache).

While in Alamogordo, we ventured to White Sands National Park a couple times. We had so much fun with our friends that we didn’t take many photos!

If you’re exploring Carlsbad, NM, one place you might find interesting is Sitting Bull Falls . It’s about 40 minutes SW of town, but a nice drive. It is part of the Lincoln National Forest , which is actually a HUGE area of land encompassing what used to be multiple separate forest reserves (Lincoln, Gallinas, Sacramento, Alamo and Guadalupe).

The main event for us while staying in Carlsbad was Carlsbad Caverns National Park .
Did you know that the Big Room in Carlsbad Caverns is the largest single cave chamber by volume. But this doesn’t make it the biggest cave system! That record goes to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky (longest cave system in the world!)

Our fourth trip to Big Bend during our stay in Terlingua, TX led us up the Chisos Mountains to a second visitor center. As you head up the mountain, you see the landscape change from desert to forest. It’s a slow change, but once you realize the change, you’re awestruck!

Back at Big Bend National Park again! Today we decided to take Maverick Road (unpaved and not maintained year round) down to Santa Elena Canyon for a hike. We stopped at several locations along the way to the canyon, including Luna’s Jacal . It’s amazing that this mud and ocotillo built structure is still standing, as its resident, Gilbert Jacal, passed away in 1947 at 108 years old!

While visiting Big Bend National Park , we took Grapevine Hills Road to Grapevine Hills Trail . The road out is about 7 or 8 miles and is not maintained all season. Once you get on the trail, it’s about 2.2 miles. The first 0.8 mile is pretty easy! A bit of up and down and uneven path, but very well traveled. After the easy part, there is a sign that the next 0.25 miles is very steep. It was CORRECT!