An Oasis in the Desert

Agua Caliente Regional Park, Tucson AZ

Kelly took this awesome reflection picture of the pond and palm trees.

A couple of weeks ago, after her son’s cross country running meet, Kelly and I decided to make a stop at a spot she’d been to before, but wanted to show me.

Agua Caliente Regional Park, officially the Roy P. Drachman Agua Caliente Regional Park, is a unique 101-acre “oasis in the desert” located on Tucson’s northeast side. Its name, which means “hot water” in Spanish, comes from the perennial warm spring that is the park’s central feature, feeding a system of three ponds.

The park is centered around a natural, geothermally heated warm spring, which has a history of use dating back about 5,500 years. The spring feeds three ponds that are home to a diverse mix of plants and animals. While the flow of the natural spring has varied over the years, the pond is currently maintained by a well.

It’s said to be an excellent locations for nature lovers … which we found to be true!

Turtles Sunning themselves on a log

Aptly named American Snout Butterfly

Blue Damselfly .

There weren’t a lot of birds around the afternoon that we were there. But we saw plenty of fish, turtles, butterflies, and oh so many of these bright blue damselflies.

Thanks to the park’s network of trails (not only around the ponds, but the surrounding desert as well), we wandered around enough that we felt able to classify this walk as:

Hike #50 of our 52 Hikes in 2025

Of course it wasn’t all stress and strain. We did stop to have some fun and take some selfies along the way.

Kelly posing on this statue of maybe a frog? .. or turtle?

Who is the star of this picture … Todd .. or that big camera lens?

Things you need to know:

• Address: 12325 E Roger Rd, Tucson, AZ 85749

• Park Hours: 7:00 a.m. to sunset, daily

• Ranch House/Gallery: Hours vary by season (closed on County holidays):

  – Nov–Apr: Wednesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

  – May–Oct: Wednesday – Sunday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

• Admission: Free

• Pets: Dogs on leashes are permitted on all trails.

• Not Permitted: Bicycles, scooters, skateboards, swimming, fishing, feeding wildlife, playgrounds, or organized sports fields.

• Astronomy: The Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association sometimes hosts after-hours stargazing events in the park.

Have you been to Tucson? If so, did you visit Agua Caliente?

Til next time,

Todd