Chiricahua National Monument

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After Kartchner Caverns, I headed straight to Chiricahua National Monument which is located in southeastern Arizona in Cochise County. It was about an hour and a half drive, mostly on two lane highways through empty pastures and valleys.

Chiricahua National Monument is a place of spectacular rock formations known as pinnacles. The Chiricahua Apache called the rock pinnacles "standing up rocks." The National Monument was established in 1924 to preserve and protect these pinnacles. In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps made road improvements, and built trails and structures in the park.

The National Monument has a scenic drive - the Bonita Canyon Drive - that winds eight miles to Massai Point, which overlooks Rhyolite Canyon, adjacent valleys, and surrounding mountain peaks. I stopped at the Visitor Center to get a map and my bearings (and some advice on what to see and do). Then I drove the scenic drive to the Echo Canyon trailhead for a 3-mile hike.


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