Management
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Chiricahua National Monument is nestled in a peaceful sky island in southeastern Arizona. Its slopes are textured by what the Chiricahua Apache called "standing up rocks" -the result of powerful volcanic events combined with geologic erosive forces over time. Hundreds of these rhyolitic rock formations occur in the monument-surprising and delighting visitors while inspiring respect for the powerful forces of nature. It is these geologic features that have earned Chiricahua a designation among our nation's most treasured places. Through the hard-fought efforts of some of its earliest ranching families, the area was made a National Monument in 1924. It is the stories of these families as well as those of Chiricahua as a cultural homeland to the Chiricahua Apache, a loved homestead, a CCC work site, and a guest ranch-that visitors to this remote oasis can relate to on a human scale. |
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Did You Know?
Chiricahua National Monument is home to many coati-mundi. Because the Chiricahua mountain range is situated at a biological cross-roads, species from Mexico's Sierra Madres make their way north. They are trapped here in our ‘sky-islands,’ though, by ‘seas’ of desert which they cannot cross.