Improvement project closes Cactus Loop for 4 months

Park officials closed the popular, hilly, curvy, scenic 8.4-mile loop road Monday for a four-month project to rebuild the crumbling roadway.

All trails within Cactus Forest Loop Drive, including the Freeman Homestead Trail, will be closed through September, park officials said.

The Javelina Picnic Area will be closed, but picnickers can still get to the Mica View Picnic Area if they don't mind the one-mile hike from the trailhead on East Broadway, said Meg Weesner, chief of science and resources management at the park.

Access to the picnic area also is available from the trailhead off East Speedway, but that's about three miles longer, she said.

Trails leading beyond the picnic area and elsewhere around the park will be closed to hikers and cyclists, Weesner said.

"We don't want people walking into the area where heavy equipment is operating," she said.

Picknickers may prefer going to Saguaro National Park West, the part of the park located west of Tucson.

"It has four picnic areas that can be driven to and one that's about a mile's hike from the trailhead," she said.

Crews will remove cacti and other vegetation from areas alongside the road before work gets under way to minimize the impact of the project, said Susan Early, the park's chief of administration.

Thomas Puto, project manager with the Federal Highway Administration, said Granite Construction was awarded the $2 million contract to reconstruct the roadway, improve drainage and parking and build 12 new roadside interpretive exhibits.

The project should be completed in September, and Cactus Forest Drive will reopen by Oct. 1, Puto said.

Details, directions

● To find out how to get from the East Speedway or East Broadway trailheads to Mica View Picnic Area, call Saguaro National Park East's visitor center at 733-5153.

● For information about picnic areas and trails in Saguaro National Park West, call 733-5158