Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

Saturday morning we drove about 35 miles south of Ajo to Organ Pipe Cactus Natl. Monument. On the drive south we passed through this little town. Well, not really a town but a spot on the road - Why?



This was one of the first Organ Pipe Cactus that we saw. The ranger hat on the rock is a memorial to a park ranger who was killed while on duty. It says he was protecting visitors, but doesn't say how he was killed.



We decided to drive the 21 mile Ajo Mountain Drive through the park. It is a one-way, dirt road that was sometimes not bad and other times, it felt like we were driving "off road". To our surprise there were even sections that were paved. All in all, it was not a bad road and there were many pull-offs so you could stop to take pictures or just walk the desert. Of course I took many pictures, to many to post them all here so I'll pick some of my favorites. It just amazes me how the landscape can change so quickly. Granted it was all desert, but it went from a gravel surface, to rocky, to volcanic rock and back. Even though it was stark, it has a beauty all it's own.

The road in.......


Organ Pipe Cactus......


Chain-Fruit Cholla w/Saguaro behind....


Dean at Organ Pipe Cactus...shows the size.....


Me too.......


Another Chain-Fruit Cholla showing the fruit......


Valley view, lots and lots of cactus......


The parks arch w/baby arch on top......The big arch is 36' high and 90' wide....


When you enlarge this picture you will see a dead branch - looks a lot like a honeycomb.....


Teddybear Cholla Cacti.......


Hope you enjoyed the cactus show. There were many other varieties of cactus such as Pencil, Christmas, Prickly Pear, Ocotillo (not a cactus even though it has spines) along with other desert plants. A very interesting place.

Hope you enjoyed the cactus show.

We are now in Casa Grande at the Gypsy Journal Rally. We are going to try to get to the Casa Grande ruins so check back to see if we make it or not.