Snowbird RV Adventure Part 2: Desert Hiking at Picacho Peak State Park

 The Park Road Trail with Picacho Peak in the distance.

One of the benefits of staying in a state park is hiking trails through the natural environment. We took short hikes each day at Picacho Peak State Park. The park map is a great resource for trail locations and difficulty.

In addition to fields of Mexican Poppies, there were more spring flowers emerging. Coulter's Lupine grows close to the ground, and up to 15 inches when the flower stalk is present. I think the delicate pointed leaves are beautiful.

Desert flowers are beginning.

The Common Fiddleneck grows taller and creates lush green and yellow blankets in the spring. The flowers are arrayed on a bending stalk that resembles the musical instrument.

At White Tank Mountain near Phoenix the Barrel Cactus had not yet bloomed. Here at Picacho State Park near Tucson they'd already bloomed and produced fruit. They are edible, but the long sharp spines surrounding them make it tricky for animals and humans to harvest.

There were Beavertail Pricklypear Cactus scattered across the landscape. They have beautiful hot pink or yellow flowers from February to June. Their spineless fruits and stems called nopales are edible. Here's another Margy story. My parents started taking me to the Casa Llenares Restaurant in Lomita, California, when I was a baby. At about five, I discovered the planter of Pricklypear Cactus near the front door. The bright red fruits caught my eye and I grabbed one. While the fruits are spineless, the pads are loaded with spines. I got a handful and have never forgotten that painful early life lesson.

A large volcanic rock along the trail.

Picacho Peak and the Picacho Mountains are the result of lava flows, fault uplift and the erosion. Granite and basalt rocks are predominate. The desert floor surrounding the peak is littered with broken rock fragments.

Picacho Peak on the right.

I was a history major and the Civil War was an area of emphasis. I remember studying the Battle of Picacho Pass, the western-most clash of the American Civil War on April 15, 1862.

Interstate 10 now takes travelers through this same area. In 1861 the Confederacy claimed the territory of Arizona and established a garrison in Tucson in February 1862.

The remains of an exposed lava flow.

After several skirmishes, a scouting party from the Union's First California Cavalry met up with a Confederate contingent on the slopes of Picacho Peak.

The result for Union soldiers was three dead and three wounded and for the Confederates two wounded and three captured. A month later the Confederates abandoned Tucson and their claim to this portion of the American Southwest.

Sunset over the slopes of Picacho Peak.

I hope you enjoyed coming along on our Picacho Peak hike and history lesson. -- Wayne and Margy