We took a trip in August to Oregon and were amazed at the number of parks with ranger-led walks. We would like to spend 3 weeks in/near Tucson in Jan/Feb 2013 and would like information on good State or National parks that offer good walks/talks led by experts.
Also, if there are commercial touring companies that lead group day tours or companies that offer tours for several (2 - 5) days, we would be interested. We would consider guided nature walks, birding, canoeing, etc.
National Parks near Tucson with Guided Walks
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Saguaro National Park has 2 sections (east and west) by Tucson.
http://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/guided-programs.htm
Casa Grande is about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. Looks like they have backcountry tours in the spring, but not sure what they consider springtime.
http://www.nps.gov/cagr/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is about 3 hours away.
http://www.nps.gov/orpi/planyourvisit/ranger-programs.htm
You can check with Chiricahua National Monument and see what they are offering at that time of year. It's about 2.5 hours away.
http://www.nps.gov/chir/planyourvisit/things2do.htm
Check with Catalina State Park outside Tucson and see if they have any guided walks in January/February. It looks like they do one every Sunday in November/December so maybe they continue that in the new year.
http://azstateparks.com/Parks/CATA/index.html
I've been to all of these parks and they are all worthy of a visit, but I've never done a guided walk so can't speak to that experience. You'll hear safety concerns re: a visit to Organ Pipe due to its location on the border, but going with a ranger guided walk/tour should eliminate any of those concerns.
Just about every National Park offers many ranger-led options. Everything from canoeing, caving, hikes, etc. Some also allow concessionaires to do even more of this type thing.
You tagged this as a Trip Report-so you may not get that many responses. This is something you do when you return from a trip ad write about what you saw/did/experienced. Some people write a short bit, while most write in detail. Some are funny, some are just factual. Writing styles are all different, of course.
I generally avoid the multi=day tour companies.
Saguaro National Park is really the on National Park near Saquaro. It's all about the big cactus there. The #1 thing to do there is see Arizona Sonoran Museum. Not really a museum, but more like a zoo(not like a zoo at all though really). They do offer special activities that cost extra, like a special Hummingbird Tour, Raptor Flights and more.
Sabino Canyon would also be something you would most likely want to see.
Contact Sabino Canyon's Visitor Center to se if their naturalists lead walks. It is a real gem.