It's always about 70 degrees inside the cave, and the tour is about a half mile. I don't generally like being underground, but I really enjoyed this tour. You'll see some of the equipment they used - the head lanterns and things. The cave is enormous and the CCC widened many parts of it and built paths and stairs to make it easy to navigate. Our guide told us that old Solomon found a small hole (very small) and squeezed into it, dropping about 10 feet to the floor of the cave. The cave itself was discovered by Solomon Lick in 1879. The place was built by the CCC and there is a lot of history there. We had a bit of a wait before our tour, but there is a really cool little museum/gift shop that has all kinds of interesting things to look at and read. ![]() It's spacious and airy, and just dark enough to be romantic and mysterious without being spooky. The cave tour is worth the $13, and even if you are a bit afraid of caves, you'll probably like this one. It costs $5 per car to enter, and if you want to tour the cave, it's $13 for adults, $6.50 for ages 5-12, and kids 4 and under are free. A few miles down this road is the Colossal Cave County Park. We were heading to Sierra Vista, so after taking the Loop Drive we exited the Park and headed south on the Old Spanish Trail. Don't forget your camera - the wildflowers and flowering cacti are amazing. When the weather starts to warm up, snakes begin to wander around. No matter what the temperatures are, wear long sleeves, a hat, sunscreen, and take a lot of water with you. There are many other awesome hikes and the entire area is just gorgeous, especially this time of year. The Mica View Picnic Area Loop is a two-mile loop and it's the easiest loop in the park. There are some moderate grades and they have wide rock stairs. The Freeman Homestead Trail takes you one mile to an old desert homestead and has plenty of signs to give you information about the history and ecology of the area. There are several other easy trails in the Rincon District. Plenty of signs tell you interesting facts about the area, and there are frequent benches. ![]() It's almost perfectly flat, barely a quarter of a mile long, and paved all the way - totally wheelchair and stroller accessible, and a fun little hike. If you have small kids or just want to sample a short hike and find out what the names of some of the native plants are, stop at the Desert Ecology Trail. The Rincon Mountains are the backdrop, and you'll see why this area is called the Cactus Forest - saguaros abound. When we went in March, the wildflowers were just starting, and it was beautiful. You can access several trailheads from this loop road and there are plenty of pull-outs and vistas. He said that the tortoises spend a lot of their time underground. They tag the tortoises, then listen to beeps as they walk along with the antenna in order to find them and gather information on how far they travel, etc. We stopped at the first pull-out and we were lucky enough to run into a ranger who was tracking tortoises with an antenna. It's a combination one-way and two-way road, but trailers over 35 feet are not permitted. This scenic drive is about eight miles but it will take you a while because you'll want to stop and look around and take photos. You can ask for trail maps and information at the visitor center, buy some souvenirs, then follow the signs to the loop drive. There is a loop drive through the western part of the Rincon District that you should definitely investigate. The Rincon Mountain District of Saguaro National Park is easy to get to: Take the Old Spanish Trail from Tucson to the Rincon Visitor Center. There are two different parts to this park: the Tucson District west of Tucson, and the Rincon District which is just southeast of Tucson. ![]() ![]() This is a gorgeous time of year to visit Saguaro National Park.
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