Chiricahua National Monument was established in 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge and 84% of this 12,025 acre monument is designated as wilderness. In 1934 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began improving the road and building trails and structures. Yet millions of years before a volcanic eruption began the geologic process that would ultimately create the spires, pillars, and hoodoos currently protected in Chiricahua National Monument.
It was almost the end of April when I left Bisbee and continued exploring southeastern Arizona. Next stop Chiricahua National Monument.
The drive to the foot of the Chiricahua Mountains crossing Sulphur Springs Valley was mostly agricultural land.
And because the area is within 30 miles of the border with Mexico there’s a check point which simply entails a quick stop and carry on.
Once I entered Chiricahua National Monument there was a small cemetery for Erickson family members who settled here in 1888 building the Faraway Ranch, but their home was closed for renovations. They were preceded by the Chiricahua Apaches as the first known people to occupy the area—and visited by the Spanish during the 1500s—before being relocated by the government in 1886.
I stopped at the visitor center and picked up my Junior Ranger book before taking the Bonita Canyon Drive eight miles up to its end at Massai Point, an 1170 foot climb on narrow road with a length restriction of 24 feet. Mine is about 21 feet total.
The views took my breath away. The west view beyond a basin filled with rock spires or hoodoos, across the Sulphur Valley and to the Dragoon Mountains about 70 miles away, where I just came from.
I could barely take it all in and the afternoon was waning plus I still had to find a nearby camp so I could return in the morning and walk at least a little of the 17 miles of trails.
I use several different apps to look for free dispersed/boondock camping sites and headed for the recommended Pinery Canyon Road in the adjacent Chiricahua National Forest. Rough road took me 30 minutes to drive five miles before I found a primitive campground under the trees with absolutely no signal.
Waking to 40° inside the camper prompted me to leave early and return to Chiricahua’s Massai Point to walk a trail and get a closer look at this rock.
Roughly 27 million years ago a cataclysmic volcanic eruption spewed ash and molten debris at super-sonic speeds and formed the approximately 12 mile wide Turkey Creek Caldera located just to the south of the monument. Ash and debris settled and compacted, forming a thick layer of rock called rhyolite tuff. This rock layer has fissured and eroded over time, forming the spectacular rock pillars of Chiricahua National Monument.
The Massai nature trail features a unique stone built overlook with multiple-point viewer across almost 180°.
The trail is an easy walk over boulders and under trees with many interesting shapes along the way.
Of course at my rate of pace, the .5 mile nature trail took over an hour while taking photos and videos.
Being I’m more of a saunterer than hiker I didn’t take on any of the other longer trails. Plus I needed a new camp for the night.
I did return to the visitor center for my hat pin, sticker, and Junior Ranger badge.
Then I exited Chiricahua National Monument and drove north to Wilcox, Arizona where I filled a propane tank before heading to my next destination, the new to me, Indian Bread Rocks Recreation Area. A whole different kind of geology, and that story will be coming next.
You can visit the national monument’s official website here https://www.nps.gov/chir/index.htm
