Introduction:
Where?
: Located in the South East corner of the state of Arizona. 115 miles, almost 2
hr drive East of Tucson.
Google Map Link
What? :
Remote high mountain park, with its unusual standing rock formations, very nice
hiking trail options and native American history.
When? :
Year round. During summer the park mountains (7000 feet) are not as hot as the
desert below. Winter can be cold at high elevation.
Due
note 1: During my 2 visits at the park, 20 years apart, I had rainy and foggy days,
but this did not reduce the faun we had at the hikes.
Due note
2: You will probably find only few other hikers in this remote park.
Due
note 3: Come here for a day trip out of Tucson or combine it with short visit
at Tombstone.
My thoughts:
I really liked the hikes in this unique and remote park. The rock pinnacles standing
above the canyons, sometimes balancing only on a small base, looks like they will
fall any minute.
The
visit:
located
deep at the south east corner of Arizona you will find Chiricahua National
Monument park, with its unusual standing rock formations, very nice hiking
trail options and native American history.
Drive
east of Tucson on I10, get off at Wilcox and take hwy 186 south, from where it
ends there is only one road is getting into the park. The park road starts at
the grassy valley (were the farms and visitor center are located) and shortly
after that it get into a narrow canyon, after that the road climbs the
mountains ridge top.
This is
unique place to visit just to explore the rock formation and standing pillars.
There
are few hiking options, I will recommend 2 options I did (not in the same visit)
that cover the main interesting rock sections.
The short
hike (3.7 miles):
Start
at Echo Canyon, take the Echo Canyon trail down the ridge, after 1.6 mile keep
going on Hailstone trail. After 0.8-mile turn left and go up on Ed Riggs Trail,
from this point 1.3 miles will bring you back to you starting point.
Longer loop
(9 miles):
Start
at Echo Canyon, take the Echo Canyon trail down the ridge, after 1.6 mile keep
going down on Upper Rhyolite Canyon Trail for additional 1.1 miles. Here, take
left on Sarah Deming Trail that will take you after 1.6 miles to a trail
junction. Here it highly recommended to do the 1.1-mile Heart of the Rock Loop
trail. Keep on going on Big Balanced Rock Trail, connect to Mushroom Rock Trail,
overall 1+1.2 miles. Start going up on Ed Riggs Trail, from this point 1.3
miles will bring you back to you starting point.
You can
also do with small kids the Massai Nature trail near Massai Point.
www:
https://www.nps.gov/chir/index.htm
Map:
https://www.nps.gov/chir/planyourvisit/upload/CHIRmap1.pdf
Pictures:
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