Hiking at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Now clear of California, our next destination was Ajo, AZ to visit the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument which is named after the organ pipe cactus that grow there. Another thing about the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is it runs right up to the Mexico border. We decided to hike Estes Canyon Trail including the switchbacks to the top of Bull Pasture Trail to get great views to the north and south. Don’t have time to read this now? Pin it for later!
Hiking Estes Canyon - Bull Pasture Trails at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Wellton, AZ
Along the way, we stopped at Wellton, AZ for a week, but there isn’t much to share about this spot. We stayed at Tier Drop RV Park which met our needs of reasonably priced, full hookups, and good cell service. The sites are dirt/gravel with no amenities and fairly close together, but the residents and people helping run the place were very friendly and we were allowed to wash the RV which is always a nice bonus (Penguin got a new foam cannon, awesome!). It had a nice pool and hot tub, and we enjoyed the hot tub a few times.
The town is very small with just a few dollar stores, a small grocery market we didn’t even bother with because of the bad reviews, a few restaurants, a couple of gas stations, etc. We did have a decent breakfast burrito across the highway at Filiberto’s. The highlight of Wellton was finding a place called the Desert Penguin Bar & Grill. Of course, we had to check it out! The decor is really fitting with ice cube sconces and plenty of artwork involving penguins, and multiple penguin statues! Desert Penguin Bar & Grill is 30 minutes east of Yuma, AZ, and just a block off I-8. If you are ever headed that way I suggest you check it out.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Our home base for exploring Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was Belly Acres RV Park in Ajo, AZ. This was a small, basic, no-frills RV park but really well managed and it was all we needed. I originally wanted to stay at Coyote Howls West RV Park in Why, AZ as one of the camp hosts we had previously worked with recommended that place for its unique character but unfortunately they were booked.
We started our day by heading to the Kris Eggle Visitor Center to pick up the NPS newspaper which was appropriately called the Cactus Chronicle. We are always looking for opportunities to drive the Jeep on dirt roads so we decided to hike the Estes Canyon Trail. This way we could take the Jeep for a spin on Ajo Mountain Drive which was a 21-mile round trip graded dirt road which was surprisingly in great condition and took no time to blast through.
There was a short 1.2 mile, easy hike called Arch Canyon just before the Estes Canyon trailhead. We skipped this hike but did a quick drive-by to get a picture of the arch. We decided to hike Estes Canyon Trail clockwise which turned out to be a great idea as we were in the shade for the uphill climb. Being a glutton for punishment we did the switchback climb to Bull Pasture Trail. The switchbacks weren’t too bad but thank goodness we were in the shade or else the sun would have made it a lot worse. Of course, the views from the top were great. We could see far north into the national monument and south to the border into Mexico. In the end, this hike turned out to be 4.15 miles with a 995 feet elevation gain.
We were thinking about driving the Puerto Blanco Drive Loop, which requires a high clearance vehicle, but the entire loop is 37 miles and we were told it could take 4-6 hours which was too much at the time.