Sweetwater Preserve

Sweetwater Preserve is an approximately 880‑acre expanse in the eastern foothills of the Tucson Mountains, just northwest of Tucson and adjacent to Saguaro National Park West.  This biologically rich area is known for saguaro forests, rare wildlife, and riparian corridors—especially Sweetwater Wash, a key link between the Tucson Mountains and the Santa Cruz River.

Sweetwater Preserve owes much to the vision and advocacy of the Tucson Mountains Association (TMA).  In 2001, TMA approached the Trust for Public Land (TPL) to conserve the area, then under threat of development. The effort led to a successful collaborative acquisition in 2004, funded in part by a Pima County Open Space Bond. TMA, TPL, and Pima County partnered to protect and establish the preserve . The acquisition was later integrated into the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan as a biologically‑based reserve, helping create habitat continuity between Sweetwater Preserve and Saguaro National Park West.

Below is the Sweetwater Preserve and the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan prepared by the TMA Sweetwater Preserve Committee in 2002. The report was written to support integration of the preserve into Pima County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan.