Tucson Mountain Park encompasses approximately 20,000 acres of desert nestled in the Tucson Mountains between Saguaro National Park and the city of Tucson. Run by Pima County it is one of the largest natural resource areas owned and managed by a local government in the U.S. The park is incredibly important as it stems the encroachment of the city of Tucson into the mountain region and protects the boarders of Saguaro National Park. In affect it is and extension of the National Park.

Tucson Mountain Park includes many trails and is famous for Gates Pass, a winding road that allows one to pass from the growing Tucson metropolitan area into the pristine Sonoran Desert. Also within its boundaries are two world class attractions, Old Tucson, a famous movie studio established in the late 1930’s to shoot Hollywood westerns such as Rio Bravo and Three Amigos and TV shows The High Chaparral and Little house on the Prairie; and the world-renowned Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden focused entirely on the Sonoran Desert Region of Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico.