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13063 E. Bonita Canyon RD
Willcox, AZ 85643-9737
Phone: (520) 824-3560
Chiricahua National
Monument is located 120 miles east of Tucson. Exit I-10 at Willcox,
and follow State Route 186 36 miles to the monument.
Twenty-seven
million years ago, a volcanic eruption, one thousand times greater
than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, laid down two thousand
feet of highly silicious ash and pumice. This mixture fused into a
rock called rhyolitic tuff. The volcanic rock eroded into the
Chiricahua National Monument’s spires and unusual rock formations.
At the intersection
of the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts, and the southern Rocky
Mountains and northern Sierra Madre in Mexico, Chiricahua plants and
animals represent one of the premier areas for biological diversity
in the Northern Hemisphere.
At the monument,
visitors find Faraway Ranch. First a pioneer homestead, it becomes a
working cattle and guest ranch. It is an example of the western
transformation from wilderness to the present settlement. Faraway
Ranch offers glimpses into the lives of Swedish immigrants Neil and
Emma Erickson, and their children. Historic artifacts furnished
house.
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.
The Apaches called
this place “The Land of Standing-Up Rocks,” a fitting name for
an extraordinary rock wonderland. Early pioneers in the late 1800s
sensed the unique beauty and singularity of the rock formations in
the area. They were instrumental in persuading Congress to protect
this “Wonderland of Rocks, “ so much so that in 1924 the
Chiricahua National Monument was created.
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