Chiricahua National Monument, Fort Bowie National Historic Site, and Coronado National Memorial

In September, 2022 I went camping with my tent in the Chiricahua National Monument.  It was a fine camping trip with cooler temperatures, of course a little rain, and a large band of coati ran right across the road as I entered the campground one evening.  Coatimundi are sort of a cross between a racoon, monkey, and an ant eater.  Unfortunately, they ran so fast I couldn’t stop safely and grab my camera. I also took a few side trips to Fort Bowie and the Coronado National Monument. I’ve also included some photos of flora and fauna I’ve seen over the last year that aren’t seen too far north of Arizona. Hope you enjoy these photos and information.

What’s a national monument?  It is significant federally owned land and waters, not private or state-owned land, that is set aside for permanent protection by the President of the United States under the Antiquities Act of 1906.

Chiricahua National Monument is in the Chiricahua Sky Island in southeastern Arizona.  It is surrounded by the Chiricahua National Forest on three sides.  It was a part of the National Forest when it was formed in 1924. 

The Chiricahua mountains were formed by volcanic uplifting and volcanic ash which melted together to form rhyolite 27 million years ago.  Wind, rain, and temperatures have sculpted the rocks into the spires, hoodoos, and balanced rocks that the Chiricahua Native Americans call “Standing Up Rocks” and some believe resemble organ pipes.

The Spanish called these mountains Chiricahua because of the wild turkeys found here.  In the Opata language, the Opata comprise three tribes of Native peoples in northern Mexico, Chiricahua means wild turkey. The people who lived in and around these mountains began to be called the Chiricahua.

The highest point in the monument is 7,310 feet.  The visitor center and campground are at 5,400 feet. It was established in 1924 to protect these mountains and their unique formations. 

The only paved road to the Monument goes south out of Wilcox, the last place to buy gas, through the playa (dry lakebed) and desert scrub, past ranches, and the settlement of Dos Cabezas for 35 miles. 

Fort Bowie sits in a very large meadow high in Apache Pass, between the Chiricahua Mountains south of the ruins and Dos Cabezas Mountains north of the pass, with the Sam Simon Valley stretching out north of the National Historic Site..

The Pass had been used by the Ancient Ones, the Chiricahua, then the Spanish, and then people headed west as well as the US Army and the Butterfield Overland Stage.  It also had water, very valuable in the desert.  The spring has since been diverted for a cattle ranch such that only a trickle remains.

The usual entrance to the Fort is by hiking 1.5 miles from the trailhead on an unpaved, rugged road.  It is possible to go on, over the pass, and enter from the north if one is unable to make the 1.5-mile hike.  There is still a significant incline from the 3 parking spaces to the ruins and visitor center.

Fort Bowie was named for Col. George Washington Bowie.  It was built after the Battle of Bowie Pass in 1862.  It remained an important fort during the Civil War and the Chiricahua who fought first with Cochise and then Geronimo to preserve their rights to these rugged mountains.  The Fort was closed in 1894.

When Geronimo finally surrendered in 1886, he and his fellow Apache were taken by railroad to imprisonment in Florida.  The surviving Apache were relocated to Fort Sill in 1894.  In 1910 they were offered their freedom, but they wanted to return to their native lands in New Mexico and Arizona. In 1914 the remaining 82 people, 20 families, were relocated to small parcels of farmland near Apache and Fletcher, Oklahoma.

Coronado National Memorial is located on the border of Arizona with Mexico near Hereford, Arizona.  It was established to commemorate Cortez’s expedition and the interactions between the Spanish and local inhabitants during the 1500’s.  There are hiking trails, a cave, and a visitor center with interpretive exhibits.  One can also, as I did, drive the unpaved gravel 2 track up to Montezuma Pass at 6,864 feet.  From there you can look south into Mexico and north into the San Pedro Valley and see the border wall stretching for miles in both directions.

The Memorial is surrounded by the Coronado National Forest’s district in the Huachuca Mountains, another Sky Island in southern Arizona.

Hope you enjoy the photos and short movies.