Organ pipe cactus5/4/2023 The Spanish Colonial Revival-style plaza surrounds a park of lush green lawn and tall palm trees. The graceful town plaza is a centerpiece project.įew Arizona communities have such a striking front yard. While Ajo is still trying to find its way forward after the loss of the mine, it seems to be moving in a good direction with a focus on the arts and restoration of historic architecture. Lodging is available in Ajo, a former mining town 16 miles north of the park. Each community offers gas, a convenience store and a restaurant. Organ Pipe is bordered by the small towns of Why on the northern edge and Lukeville to the south, the entry point to Mexico. RELATED: Best Weekend Ever: Tucson | Arizona's 6 most underrated destinations | Top 5 Arizona adventures to get your adrenaline pumping | 39 things only Arizonans know The revitalization of Ajo But visitors can easily reach Pinkley Peak Picnic Area as a short out and back on the north side. A half-day is required to make the full drive and four-wheel drive is required for certain segments. This 37-mile loop circles the Puerto Blanco Mountains and offers expansive views. The other popular route is Puerto Blanco Drive. Picnic tables and hiking trails are accessible along this route. It skirts past carved canyons and steep walls of cliffs. ![]() The graded gravel road, suitable for sedans, climbs from the valley floor into the foothills of the Ajo Mountains. The Ajo Mountain Drive is a 21-mile one-way loop that puts some of the park’s best scenery on display. In September 2015, all of Organ Pipe’s 516 square miles were reopened to hikers, campers, birders and desert lovers. ![]() Now, park rangers educate visitors so they can make informed decisions about where to explore. Customs and Border Protection dramatically beefed up its presence. More law-enforcement rangers were added to the monument’s staff and the U.S. Miles of vehicle barriers were installed on the border, along with surveillance towers and pedestrian fences. Since then, numerous security measures have been implemented. After that, most of what was deemed America’s “most dangerous national park” was closed to the public. The monument became a thoroughfare for illegal activity, culminating in 2002 when park ranger Kris Eggle was shot and killed by drug smugglers. In the 1990s, border-security crackdowns in urban areas sent human and drug traffickers into the outback seeking new routes from Mexico to the United States. Recent history has been less kind to Organ Pipe. The designation has attracted scientists from around the world to conduct studies on this intact ecosystem. In 1976, the United Nations recognized the diversity of the monument by naming it an International Biosphere Reserve. The monument is one of the few spots where the large cactus grows north of the Mexican border. A striking resemblance to the pipes of a church organ prompted its moniker. Unlike the stately saguaro that rises in a single trunk, the organ pipe is a furious clutter of segments shooting up from the base, a cactus forever in celebratory mode - throwing its arms in the air like it just doesn’t care. More than 90 percent of the terrain is designated wilderness.Īll told, 28 species of cactus can be found in the park, including the namesake organ pipe. Gentle valleys that bristle with forests of saguaros stretch between ranges of craggy mountains. ![]() Yet the monument preserves more than 500 square miles of lovely Sonoran Desert. Organ Pipe sits on the border with Mexico, far enough from population centers that it receives only a moderate trickle of visitors. And while plenty of folks explore the two segments of Saguaro National Park bracketing Tucson, far fewer have ventured to the remote outpost of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. We’re the only state with a national park and a national monument dedicated to protecting cactus.
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