Adventurous trail walkers	Mammillaria grahamii

SOUTH LOOP TRAIL

A pleasant walk through washes, up a slight incline and past indigenous vegetation, on this trail (1/5 mile) you will see the Park’s largest grouping of saguaros. Although saguaros grow throughout the Park, they prefer this area because of the ideal soil conditions, climate and rainfall. Be sure to take in the Saguaro Discovery Trail which leads to the South Loop and don’t miss the crested saguaro at the highest point of the loop trail. Crested saguaros are a rare mutation, occurring in one out of every two hundred thousand saguaros.

The South Loop is also home to many of the Park’s more than 300 native night-blooming cereus (Peniocereus greggii). The cereus is a spindly plant that more closely resembles a cluster of dead sticks or creosote branches than a typical cactus. But for one night each summer, the “Queen of the Night” makes her appearance and the plants flower in a spectacular fashion with large, white, fragrant blossoms. This flowering event occurs typically in June or July. The Park stays open late, inviting visitors to stroll luminaria-lit paths and experience one of the desert’s miracles.