There are two sides to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. For one, the park is a great place for visitors to explore the remote and undeveloped wilderness of the Sonoran Desert that spans southern Arizona and northwestern Mexico. On your visit to the park, you can explore one of Earth’s most fragile major ecosystems, an environment so unique that Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was awarded Unesco International Biosphere Reserve status in 1976. Far less busy than other national parks, Organ Pipe promises solitude and wilderness adventures in a stunning desert setting.

When I think of a desert, I always picture the Namib in Namibia. A vast expanse of sand piled up into giant dunes. The Sonoran Desert, on the other hand, is a Green Desert and very different to the Namib. This rocky landscape of mountains, valleys, and gorges is covered with a variety of plants – the park’s namesake organ pipe cactus, senita cactus, giant saguaros, prickly pear, and ocotillos – and in spring, these prickly plants are decorated with colourful blossoms.

Then there are the brilliant sunsets – since no matter what kind of desert, sunsets, when there’s much sand or dust in the air, are always magical. In Organ Pipe, it was almost as if all cacti waved their prickly arms like magical wands in unison, and a curtain of gold dropped on the desert. Minutes later, they waved their wands again, and the mysterious glow of the Blue Hour settled upon the landscape.

But there’s another, more sinister side of Organ Pipe National Park. After 2002, when the park made headline news when 28-year-old park ranger Kris Eggle was shot by members of a Mexican drug cartel whilst on duty in the park, Organ Pipe was dubbed the “most dangerous national park” in the US. Most of the area was closed down after the incident, and some sections of the park have reopened only recently. 

These issues remain mostly invisible to visitors though, and the only visible sign of any alleged danger nowadays is Trump’s new 9-meter-high steel-barred border wall that runs along the 30-mile borderline that the park shares with Mexico. That, and several signs posted along the park roads that still ask you to be vigilant of drug and human trafficking and illegal immigration from neighbouring Mexico. 

We were told it’s highly unlikely that you will run into any trouble if you stay on marked tracks, but if you feel uneasy about exploring the park on your own, you may want to participate in a free ranger program.