Your Fee Dollars at Work

The park fees you pay in Saguaro National Park help us right here. The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) allows the NPS to collect and retain revenue and requires that fee revenue be used to enhance the visitor experience.

Out of the 417 units in the National Park Service (NPS), 117 parks charge an entrance fee. The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (FLREA) allows the NPS to collect and retain revenue and requires that fee revenue be used to enhance the visitor experience. At least 80 percent of the money stays in the park where it is collected, and the other 20 percent is used to benefit parks that do not collect fees.

You can see your fee dollars at work all around the park.

 

Projects Underway or Just Completed

 

Photo Description: On the left: Saguaro National Park staff are repairing the Desert Ecology Trail in the Rincon Mountain District in the park. On the right: The trail after the repairs.

NPS Photo

The Desert Ecology and Discovery Trails

We are replacing the Desert Ecology and Discovery Trail surfaces to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards for visitor enjoyment.

This project will replace the decaying asphalt front country trails’ surfaces. The Saguaro West Desert Discovery and Saguaro East District Desert Ecology Trails will be brought back into compliance with the Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standards (ABAAS) for accessibility. Using park seasonal labor and volunteers, the park will prep the site for the demolition of the existing asphalt and relocate any sensitive cacti and flora expected to be blocking the new concrete surface. Then via contract, the NPS will form, pour, smooth, and restore the trails’ surfaces with grade compliant & sustainable material.

 

The Pink Hill Trail before and after rehabilitation.

NPS Photo

Sustainably Rehabilitating the Pink Hill Trail Ruts and Removing Hazards for Equestrians

The park repaired and rehabilitated 1.6 miles of the most popular equestrian use trail named the Pink Hill Trail, located in the Rincon Mountain District within the Cactus Forest Trail Complex. Work crews fully rehabilitated the trail tread by filling in ruts with crushed rocks along the trails length.

The Pink Hill project consisted of installing log checks and reroutes to improve badly rutted areas on the Pink Hill trail. This work required digging trenches perpendicular to the trail at distances determined by measuring the rise and run of the trail. Once work was finished within any work zone, we rehabbed the area to look as natural as possible. This was mostly done by replanting non-protected vegetation. In the work area east of Monument wash we used no power tools.

 

 

Maintain and Repair Tanque Verde Ridge Trail

This is one of the most popular day hiking trails in the park. It also leads into the Saguaro Wilderness Area and to the backcountry campground, Juniper Basin. The Saguaro trail crew will work with a conservation corps in the Wilderness area repairing stone steps, cleaning and repairing water bars, replacing eroded tread, brushing, and removing fallen trees along approximately eleven miles of the Trail. The crew will perform these repairs and maintenance in compliance with Wilderness Preservation principles.

 

Maintain Tucson Mountain District Trails

Maintain 13.5 miles of popular hiking trails on the west side of the park including the Hugh Norris Trail, Cactus Wren Trail, Gould Mine Trial, Mule Deer Trail, Roadrunner Trail, Sweetwater Trail and Thunderbird Trail.