Saguaro National Park has a lot of great moderate to difficult hikes where you can spend hours hiking through the magnificent cactus forests of the Sonoran Desert. But there are also some shorter hikes that offer a lot in a small package. The Ridge View Trail is one of those hikes and in this article I will tell you everything you need to know about the hike.
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Ridge View Trail Overview
The Ridge View Trail is an easy to moderate out and back hike approximately 2.3 miles and with an elevation gain of 351 feet. This is a perfect hike for catching the sunset and some pretty good views without having to trek through a long or strenuous route.
- Distance: 2.3 miles
- Elevation Gain: 351 feet
- Route Type: Out and Back
- Pets: No
- Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Getting to the trail head
The Ridge View Trail kicks off at the Loma Alta trailhead located on the south side of Saguaro National Park. Here is the address to the trail head: Loma Alta Trailhead, 6578 S Camino Loma Alta, Tucson, AZ 85747. (The trail head is located at the red arrow below.)
You cannot access it from the main entrance and instead will need to access it from the end of S Camino Loma Alta road.
Once you head to the end of that paved road, you will have about a half mile on a dirt road until you hit the trailhead. You do not have to have a high clearance vehicle on this road but it sure is nice to have one.
You will find a lot of parking spaces near the trail head. We visited on a late afternoon on a Monday and found plenty of parking spots.
Trail conditions
The trail is very well marked and easy to follow up to the point that you get to the later view points.
After the second or so viewpoint, it was less clear where exactly the trail ended and I found myself navigating over rocky terrain and not super sure if I was on the trail or not. So I would recommend to just check out the view points and then return to the trail.
Route description
As stated, the trail begins at the Loma Alta Trailhead.
You will first start out on the Hope Camp Trail which is also a dirt ranch road. After a short amount of time you will turn left and head north on the Ridge View Trail.
The Ridge View Trail trailhead is clearly marked and so you should not have any issues finding it.
The incline for the first half mile is pretty gradual and quite an easy stroll.
There were lots of wildflowers along with the path although many of them were also dead — perhaps because we were visiting in late April. The display could not compare to the nearby Hope Camp, Coyote Wash, and Ruiz Trail Loop.
Expect to also encounter saguaro cactuses, prickly pear, cholla, hedgehog cactus, barrel cactus, ocotillio, palo verde, mesquite trees, and more.
Some nice views of the foothills begin to emerge pretty quickly.
After the first half mile, you will start to notice the incline. I personally did not feel like the incline was very challenging although some others have rated this trail as moderate.
There is basically no shade on this route so I would recommend doing the hike outside of peak sun hours.
With the sun beginning to set in the west, there is a ridge that offers some shade at points. Also, this trail ends with some great sunset views so I think this is just a perfect evening hike.
You’ll get some decent views of saguaros on this hike but there are better hikes for getting up close to those.
Once you are 1 mile into the hike, you will come across the first viewpoint. It’s a pretty good view of Mount Rincon but it’s not the most impressive view of the hike so I would suggest to keep going.
As you continue to ascend, the trail is a little bit more narrow and rocky but still not very difficult to navigate. I did not feel like I needed trekking poles or anything.
You’ll also encounter some more great views as you move along.
Once you get about 1.2 miles in, you will come across a large rocky slab that is perfect for relaxing on and it even has a natural bench cut into it.
It’s the perfect place to sit and ponder the beauty of the park.
From this overlook, you have some more great views of the foothills covered in saguaros.
This would be a great spot to sit down and enjoy some snacks or just relax but you can continue on a smaller trail that will take you farther west, which has some different views.
Initially, this is an easy to follow path but it soon becomes less clear where exactly the trail ends.
We navigated over some rocky terrain to ensure that we did not impact the flora but it still was not clear to me where exactly the route terminated.
So we ended up making our way to the drop off area and decided to stop there. It opened up perfectly to where the sun sets and it’s a pretty magnificent view.
Due to the extra length we hiked, our hike came out to 2.9 miles with an elevation gain a 400 feet.
The walk back to the parking lot was beautiful as the sun was setting on the neighboring mountains, which is why once again, I recommend doing this like close to sunset.
Final word
Overall, I think this is a great hike for catching a sunset while enjoying a pretty easy stroll through the cactus forest. It’s not the best for getting up close to saguaro cactuses but with the great views and a relatively mild incline, this could also be a good introduction to hiking.
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.