Dawn of a new day in Arizona as sunlight bursts through an Organ Pipe Cactus and its gorgeous blossoms.
Although there are many wild, remote places spread throughout Arizona, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument may be one of the very few that hasn’t served as the setting of a Hollywood western or some other adventure film.
Organ Pipe is well off the beaten path in the extreme southwestern area of the state, 41 miles south of Ajo (also featured in Armchair Travelogues) and it sprawls over 517 square miles of rugged terrain. As one of the most profoundly unique locales in the world, Organ Pipe did become the focus of a British Broadcasting Corporation nature documentary in 2016.
Since the Organ Pipe Cactus region is so obscure, it is among the least visited of any national monument or park in the United States. The BBC documentary may lure more visitors to explore this monument with its majestic spires of the organ pipe cactus which resemble an old-fashioned organ, and can rise to a height of well over 20 feet!
The lovely white flowers of this cactus species only bloom forth at night, and start to close as the sun comes up. This cactus also bears a small, reddish fruit similar to watermelon and is said to be quite tasty!
A more expansive view of an organ pipe cactus in Phoenix showing numerous flowers shortly before they close for the day.
While this cactus is commonly found throughout northern Mexico, the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona is the only area of the United States where they grow in the wild.
