The Desert Ecology Trail is a 0.3 mile paved loop trail in Saguaro National Park. A paved parking area for the trail is located on the right side of the road about 2.4 miles around the Cactus Forest Loop Drive from the entrance station. Parking is available for six passenger vehicles, one handicap placarded vehicle, and one RV. The trail is located across the road. We walked the trail during our March 2018 visit to the park.
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| Typical trail conditions |
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| Prickly pear (Opuntia engelmannii) |
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| Blue Paloverde (Parkinsonia florida) |
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| Arizona Pencil Cholla (Cylindropuntia arbuscula) |
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| Closeup of Arizona pencil cholla fruit |
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| A single saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) rises above the creosote bushes (Larrea tridentata) |
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| Cloudy skies over the Sonoran desert |
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| Four-armed saguaro |
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| The trail crosses Javelina Wash at grade |
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| Three amigos |
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| A saguaro arm beginning to form |
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| Buckhorn cholla (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa) |
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| Buckhorn cholla fruit |
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| Candy Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wislizeni) |
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| Closeup of candy barrel cactus fruit |
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| Multiple armed saguaro |
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| Saguaros from below |
Entrance to Saguaro National Park requires an entry fee of $15 per vehicle. Any of the America the Beautiful passes may be used instead.
The park website is https://www.nps.gov/sagu.
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