Chiricahua National Monument | park, hiking, geology, national park

 park, hiking, geology, national park

East Bonita Canyon Road
Willcox, AZ 85643
www.nps.gov/chir/index.htm
www.nps.gov/carto/hfc/carto/media/CHIRmap1.pdf

In the far southeastern corner of Arizona are the beautiful Chiricahua Mountains, one of several “sky island” mountain ranges surrounded by expansive desert grasslands. The Chiricahua Mountain Range is an inactive volcanic range twenty miles wide and forty miles long. It forms part of the Mexican Highland section of the Basin and Range Biogeographical Province and rises up dramatically from the valley floor to over nine thousand feet, cresting in a series of uneven, volcanic looking peaks. At the northern end of the range is an extraordinary area of striking geological features and enormous biodiversity. Tucked deep into these steep, forested valleys and beneath the craggy peaks are the remains of violent geological activity that continued for many millions of years—the pinnacles, columns, spires and balanced rocks of Chiricahua National Monument.