Santa Cruz River - National Parks Gallery

Surface flow on the Santa Cruz gave rise to productive agricultural communities going back thousands of years before the Spanish arrived. These successful settlements, many of which transformed into mission communities like Tumacácori, marked the geologic story of impermeable rock under the surface. Where the bedrock turned downward, the river disappeared. Where it twisted back up, water flowed.

***The Santa Cruz River contains
contaminants harmful to human health.
Avoid contact.