The menu is best described as Mediterranean, with an occasional Southwestern flair. Nestled at the foot of the Catalina Mountains, the park offers trails for every level of hiker. You can take a long and strenuous trail to Hutch's Pools, one of the few places water can be found year-round. Stand under a waterfall or swim around, but don't dive off the rocks. Many people find it tempting, but enough people die there every year to make it a less than compelling idea.
Serious hikers can, with a permit, continue on into the mountains, camping along the way.
Other true desert hikes can be launched from either Saguaro National Monument East or West. But of course this isn't true. This is what much of Tucson looked like before real estate development began in earnest. But my favorite is the willowy ocotillo with its bony fingers forever reaching skyward. This lush, green landscape is, after all, a desert.