Rincon Mountain Visitor Center — Attraction in Tucson

This is a small but really nice visitor center and somewhere to stop before doing the exploring in the park. The staff are friendly and helpful, with a good knowledge of the area. Its good to stop here and pick up maps of the area so that you can see where the best hikes are. You also need to get an idea of what is happening in the park and which trails and roads are open. In Augusts some get washed out in the rain. There are no trails worth doing from here but it’s a short drive round the loop to Tanque Verde Ridge, which is a great trail. This is a great National Park and well worth a visit. The scenery is fantastic and you can easily spend the whole day here exploring, however some areas need a 4x4. But for the most part a good car will get you round the park, especially the main loop. There are two really good hikes, Tanque Verde Ridge and Wild Horse Canyon trail, but you have to go round the side of the park to Deer Valley trailhead to get to it. Obviously, the main reason for coming here is to see the cacti and they go right across and there are many varieties, the Saguaro are huge. We went in August so some of the cactus were covered with prickly pears, which my daughter insisted on try and actually liked. This is basically a cacti forest. This park is great for a day out or the whole weekend, especially if you do...

I’ve been living and working in Tucson for a few years now and I try often to visit various tourist spots around town. I thought I would give this place a shot. In a nut shell it really wasn’t for me. First of all it was quite pricey just to enter the park and I know that they use that fee to maintain the area and that’s great. The scenery was excellent as usual with the cacti, mountains etc. What I didn’t really care for was the business on the Saturday. There were so many cars that you really had no chance of pulling over and parking at the various lookout locations. Each spot seemed to have only two maybe three maximum parking spots so they were constantly occupied. If you can brave the 8 mile loop by walking then you got it made but by car it’s very difficult when it’s busy. My favourite spot was the Javelina rocks look out point. That was the highlight for me otherwise there really wasn’t anything else special on the drive. It is a great place for a work out though if you’re a runner or a cyclist. I don’t think I will return but I do recommend it at...

Came to ride bicycles around the loop. As I was unloading the two bikes I got yelled at by a male ranger who said to park inside the loop if I’m going to ride bikes and save the spots in the lot for people going to the visitor center. Ok fine - got back in the car and since the person I was with already had unpacked their bike, I drove and they walked. The woman ranger at the kiosk then yelled at me a second time telling me the bike and the second person had to be inside the car, not next to it, and acted like this act of entering the loop this way way akin to high treason. “Ok you know what I’m going to let it slide THIS ONE TIME but NEVER AGAIN”… Yikes- Calm down USNP people. It’s a paved loop road for people to enjoy - why the manic rudeness and nasty attitude. I get a calm discussion about rules but straight up yelling at a person who just wants to go for a bike ride....