After leaving Deming, NM, Shae, Truffles and I headed on to Tucson, AZ. When checking our list of things to do in Arizona, we saw that Chiricahua National Monument was sort of on our way.
I say it was sort of on our way because we had to drive past it and, after getting off I-10, had to drive back about 40 miles along AZ-186 until we got there. Chiricahua National Monument is about a two hour drive from Tucson, so we figured we might as well visit the site on our way through rather than having a four hour round trip another day.
When you arrive at the park, there’s nothing indicating what you’ll eventually be seeing because you have to drive around and up into the Chiricahua Mountains.
It’s a couple of miles from the entrance to the visitor center, but despite that short distance we stopped twice along the way.
Our first stop was the Erickson graveyard. In 1887, Emma and Neil Erickson got married and set up a homestead at the site called Faraway Ranch. Their first daughter Lillian decided to stay there and, together with her husband Ed Riggs, set up a guest ranch where people could stay while visiting the rock formations. Chiricahua National Monument was established in 1924, the year after Lillian and Ed got married.
After stopping at the graveyard, we continued about 0.25 miles further up the road where we saw the Bonita Creek picnic area which had some shaded picnic tables. Seeing as it was about 1:30pm by this point, we decided to stop there for lunch before continuing.
There’s a 0.2 mile loop trail you can take around that area, or you can head east for 0.5 miles on the Bonita Creek Trail. That leads you to a parking area which is also the trailhead for the 1.2 mile long Silver Spur Meadow Trail which takes you even further east.
The Silver Spur Meadow Trail takes you past the Faraway Ranch (where the Ericksons once lived) as well as the Stafford Cabin, so that trail could be worth checking out if you have time. We weren’t sure how long the rest of our visit would take though and, with another two hours of driving ahead of us to Tucson, we decided to continue on to the visitor center after we’d finished our lunch.
As with most sites operated by the National Parks Service that we’ve visited during COVID, the visitor center was closed. However, they did have tables set up outside with site guides, maps and trail guides. There was also a very friendly NPS employee who was happy to answer any questions visitors had.
If you’re traveling with a dog like we are, be aware that Chiricahua National Monument is medium pet-friendly. As you’d expect, they’re allowed anywhere you might stop with your car (e.g. pull-offs, picnic areas, parking areas, etc.). They’re also allowed on the following trails:
- Bonita Creek Loop – 0.2 miles
- Bonita Creek Trail – 0.5 miles each way
- Silver Spur Meadow Trail – 1.2 miles each way
- Visitor Center to the Campground – 0.4 miles each way
There are at least nine other trails at Chiricahua National Monument. Many of those take you much closer to the rock formations, but pets aren’t allowed on any of those trails. That’ll be less of an issue if you’re camping there, but if you’re visiting the site on a day trip, having your dog with you will mean admiring the rock formations and hoodoos from a little farther afield than you’d be able to otherwise.
As much as I enjoy hiking, I already knew we wouldn’t have time to do that anyway even if we didn’t have Truffles with us, so we all hopped back in the car and continued driving up Bonita Canyon Dr. After about half a mile, there was a pull-off on the left for the Organ Pipe formation.
The sign had an arrow pointing where the formation was, but for this particular set of rocks the arrow wasn’t so necessary because it was pretty clear what we should be looking for.
The pull-off had a helpful information board explaining how the rock formations at Chiricahua were formed.
I’m curious what the thud will be like if and when the fallen rock in the photo below gets dislodged through erosion.
Another 0.75 miles or so past the Organ Pipe formation there was a pull-off for a different formation called Sea Captain.
The arrow for this formation was much more needed, but even then we had the hardest time finding Sea Captain. There were various formations in the distance, but none that seemed to look like Bart Simpson sans spiky hair like in the image above.
Eventually we found the Sea Captain. Having since seen other pictures of him online, from a certain angle there’s a hole in the rock which looks like an eye. From our vantage point though, his eye seemed to be closed!
Having eventually found the Sea Captain we continued up the road, stopping along the way to admire the views.
The scenic drive through Chiricahua National Monument is 8 miles long and ends at Massai Point. There’s an oval parking area with 26or 27 parking spots (including handicapped) based on this satellite view.
Massai Point is an overlook providing great views of the hoodoos and rock formations from above. There’s also a 0.5 mile long nature trail which has information boards about geology, flora and fauna.
The Massai Point Nature Trail is one of the trails that dogs aren’t allowed on. Shae and I therefore took it in turns to sit with Truffles while the other checked out the views.
And what views they are. Set out before you at Massai Point is what looks like a city of skinny skyscrapers constructed from rock. It’s the kind of thing you should see in person as I don’t feel like the photos I took on my phone do it justice.
Even though it was a beautiful day when we visited, it was extremely windy up there.
If you want to get photos without other visitors in them, there’s an overlook you can walk out to. An added benefit is that it also has a telescope you can use.
Here’s a quick video I took which helps give a sense of how expansive it is from up there.
Final Thoughts
Chiricahua National Monument was a fun stop on our way from Deming, NM to Tucson, AZ. It’s a beautiful drive along Bonita Canyon Dr, culminating in great views at Massai Point.
It seemed like a great place to go hiking seeing as you can get much closer to the hoodoos and other formations. That’s a little trickier though if you’re only visiting for the day and have a dog with you. If you’re into camping, this seemed like a great place to spend a few days exploring the various trails.
How Much Does Chiricahua National Monument Cost To Visit?
It’s free to visit Chiricahua National Monument in terms of entrance fees.
If you want to camp at Bonita Canyon Campground it costs $20 per night, or $10 per night if you have an Interagency Senior or Access Pass. That’s the price for individual campsites; group campsites are $3 per person, per night.
Address
Chiricahua National Monument, E Bonita Canyon Rd, Willcox, AZ 85643
This was really fascinating to read about, see the photos, and watch the movie – Especially since I never heard of this place before! Thanks, as always, for sharing your adventures with us 🙂
Thanks! That’s one of the best things about this road trip – we’re visiting all kinds of places we’d never have heard about or gotten to experience otherwise.