Organ Pipe Cactus NM

Organ Pipe Cactus NM is a park we have visited only once quite some time before for a couple hours and we want to visit again to explore it more thoroughly. This time we want to stay overnight close by in Ajo and have more time to explore. The drive is uneventful even though relatively long and after two hours we arrive at the visitor center where we see a weird floating dog while buying a National Park pass.

From the visitor center we drive across the highway to the Ajo Mountain Drive Loop which is one way for the majority of the loop. The one way part starts at a trailhead that we didn’t know about for the Historic County Road Trail. We take a look at the trail but it is a long one so we decide to skip it and continue with our initial plan.

As we continue on the dirt road towards the mountains the scenery is quite beautiful with lots of saguaros but not a lot of organ pipe cactuses in this stretch.

We are hungry and plan to stop at a picnic area along the way but an RV is camped there and they seem to sleep inside. So we just wander around a bit enjoying the nature before moving on.

This is actually a great decision as at the next stop we find a lonely picnic table at a beautiful overllook of the valley from which we just climbed. We stop there and eat our lunch while keeping an eye out for any wildlife. And then it is time to move on entering an area with more organ pipe cactuses even though some are unfortunately dead. Still this allows us to compare their skeleton with saguaros, they are quite different, something that we didn’t expect.

The first longer trail that we plan on taking is Arch Canyon Trail, a 0.6mi hike into a canyon with promised views of an arch high above the canyon floor. But first we have to find a parking spot which proves to be quite difficult but in the end we manage after a car leaves.

The arch is visible already from the parking lot and approaching the mountains actually hides it from view. From the trail we have the occasion to get some closer looks of the arch and we notice it actually is a double arch with a very small secondary arch on top of the main one.

The trail is mostly level but there are some washes that need to be navigated including one that has stairs helping you up the slope. It is also quite busy with many people returning which make the hike less peaceful than we would have liked.

The end of the trail is quite scenic and there is an unmaintained spur trail that climbs up to the ridge which we decide not to take as we have one more trail planned for today. The other unmaintained trail branching through the valley seems to be used mostly by illegal immigrants according to the sign so we decide to return at this point.

Even with the multitude of people there are a variety of birds along the trail with the most unexpected one being a dark eyed junco, not a bird we expected to see in the desert.

From the trailhead we continue on the loop road making only one more stop to take photos of a spectacular group of Organ Pipe Cactuses along the road.

The other trail we want to hike today is the Alamo Canyon Trail. It is starting from Alamo Campground and based on our research (and plaque) goes for about 1 mi ending at an historic corral. Finding parking is a bit difficult as there is no separate parking for the trail and the campground is full but after some searching we find a spot and on we go.

The trail is following a former road, in fact it is the former road. It passes through some beautiful landscape with quite a few healthy organ pipe cactuses and of course saguaros.

Some of the organ pipe cactuses have so many stems that they look like an alien organism trying to take over the world. Guess we have seen too many sci fi movies….

About three quarters of the mile in is the first point of interest, a historic cabin which now seems to have been reconstructed recently. Nearby is a rock where we find some petroglyphs likely from the last century.

At the end of the trail is an historic corral. There is no water and the fence is falling down but with a bit of work it looks like it could be easily reactivated as it doesn’t look so different from corrals we find on our other hikes.

We know that the official end of the trail is at the corral as even though the trail continues it looks unmaintained and there is the usual warning side about illegal immigration.

There are quite a few birds along the trail and we also see some lizards even though less than we expected. The most interesting bird is a rock wren that studies us for a while.

Returning to Ajo it is still light outside so we spend a bit to explore the historic town and we are surprised at how much there is to see. So we decide to change our plans for next day a bit and visit the town first before going to Organ Pipe Cactus NM. Finding lodging in Ajo was not easy and we settled on an RV booked through Airbnb. It is an interesting place to spend the night, kept very clean and in good shape by its owners. They also left some nice touches like muffins, free cold drinks in the fridge and popcorn, quite cool. After watching a bit on TV the horrible news from Ukraine we go to sleep as the next day is looking to be quite busy.

After a good sleep in the morning we eat breakfast and take a walk around to take a look at the RV we stayed in also from the outside. Inside we make good use of the recliners and the trays that allows us to eat easily without a large table.

There is a surprising number of birds and wildlife around the RV, house finches, woodpeckers, curve-billed thrashers and a desert cottontail that plays hide and seek using the different human made objects around the RV.

We start with a tour of Ajo following two adventure lab caches leading us from the former movie set at one end of Ajo through multiple interesting street art locations towards the downtown area.

We park in the downtown plaza area and walk around the square which is quite empty on Sunday morning with most people being at church it seems.

As we explore the area we discover a side street which was used as an outdoor art gallery during an art camp. It seems quite political with a focus on the plight of the Tohono O’odham Indian nation which is split between two countries, US and Mexico and further divided by the border wall.

A few more historic historic buildings that we visit on our walk are the Curley School, the old city school and now a complex for artists and artisans, and the Immaculate Conception Church.

On one side of the central square sits the former train station which is now the visitor center. Until we reach it we didn’t notice that the train lines next to it are not running at all, we thought commercial traffic might still be passing through.

Last stop in town is at the open pit mine, it is almost impossible to take a photo due to the fencing but we manage at least one photo with the camera held high up. There is also a nice view of the historical museum which is unfortunately closed this early in the morning.

Back in Organ Pipe Cactus NM we stop again at the visitor center. This time we want to ask for a clarification on how difficult the North Puerto Blanco Road is. The day before the ranger said high clearance and 4WD recommended and given that it is one way only we are a bit spooked. Today the same ranger confirms and tells us we have a chance to get stuck in sand and that huge rocks are lodged in the road and shows us some photos. The photos though do not look that intimidating and after some debating we decide to take the plunge especially given that our car is both high clearance and 4WD.

As we drive the one way part the road is nothing like what the ranger threatened, it is good probably even for a 2WD sedan, just a normal dirt road. As such we make good time and soon arrive at our first planned stop, the trailhead for the Dripping Springs Trail.

Similar to other trails in the area this one is a road leading from the parking lot to the mountains where the Dripping Springs are located. We are quite curious to see these Springs which are a rare source of permanent water in the desert. On the way we notice that the sun looks quite weird, it has a halo around it and stays that way for the whole day.

At the end of the road a trail climbs up towards the ridge with a side trail towards the springs about half way up. There are some good views from the trail especially as we get close to the spring.

The Springs are located in a crack in the mountain and we cannot approach them that well due to the number of bees flying in and out. We are surprised at how many dead bees there are it seems they are not really that careful when getting water.

We eat our lunch near the spring and watch a Gila woodpecker coming multiple times for water but otherwise it is quite quiet, we were awaiting more wildlife around the spring.

We do find a rock with some inscriptions from the people that visited the spring, this is quite common in the area near permanent water places or landmarks.

From Dripping Springs our next stop is at the Golden Bell Mine picnic area. Here and also along the way we notice there are installations that offer water and rescue for illegal immigrants if they need help at the press of a button. Not sure if they are calling the border patrol when pressing the button or some humanitarian agency even though for some reason we get asked about it by another tourist.

Next stop is a short one at Bonita Well picnic area which even has a restroom so it is more developed than the other stops. Past Dripping Springs we seem to be the only car on the road which is relatively impossible as all the other people hiking there should be passing us given that it is a one way road. Likely they also stopped at the same places like us post Dripping Springs and no one actually caught with us.

Next stop is one that we were thinking about for quite some time at Quitobaquito Spring. We have heard (and saw photos) that it was seriously impacted by the building of the new border wall that separates the major highway on the Mexican side from the NM. However during our visit it seems that the water level was quite high and the spring itself seemed to be in great shape. We were the only visitors which is quite surprising as it is one of the more interesting features in the park, a lake filled with permanent water in a very dry landscape.

We walk around the lake looking for birds and dragonflies as we are interested in a few rare dragonflies that exist only here in the US or even in the world. We do not find them but we find a beautiful Red Saddlebag resting which is rare in itself as they are usually flying around.

There are quite a few birds around the lake and we have fun watching them especially white-crowned sparrows, a black phoebe, and the swallows that fly over the water catching insects. Of course where there are small birds there are also raptors, mostly red-tailed hawks.

The last point of interest in the park is the Senita Basin, which holds one of the rarest large cactuses in Arizona the Senita cactus. With a bit of luck we see a few of them on the road towards the trailhead, they look like a cross between organ pipe cactuses and saguaros and can easily be confused with organ pipe cactuses.

The trailhead is at the end of the road and there are multiple trail choices that we can take from here. In the end we choose the 3 mile Senita Basin Loop that goes through the heart of the basin. This also allows us to leave at a reasonable time for the long drive home.

The trail is quite scenic and passes many beautiful organ pipe cactuses and saguaros. There are however zero senita cactuses, which was something we were hoping to see also from the trail and not only from the road.

The trails are, like all the other trails in the park, following old roads through the area. They are also quite flat so we make good time on our hike and enjoy the great weather.

In the washes and also sometimes along the trail the flowers are in full bloom especially the pink fairy-dusters. And where there are flowers there are also butterflies including the beautiful desert orangetips.

There are also some birds but not as many as we expected. However there is a new one for this area for us, the ash-throated flycatcher, besides the usual gila woodpeckers.

The going continues to be easy as we get on the second leg of the triangle looking loop following another road north through the desert.