Geology of National Parks: Panoramic view from the high pinnacles area in Chiricahua National Monument.

Chiricahua National Monument

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Chiricahua National Monument  is a geologic and ecological wonderland located in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. The park was established in 1924 to preserve and protect a rugged and scenic mountain landscape that is host to pinnacles, spires, balanced rocks scattered throughout along the ridgelines in the high country.  The park is host to the intersection of several ecological provinces, hosting plants typical of  Chijuajuan and Sonoran Deserts, and forests of the Southern Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madre (of Mexico).

Construction of roads, trails, and structures was conducted by the Civilian Conservation Corps starting in 1934. Today, the park has expanded to more than 12,025 acres of which 84% is designated as wilderness area. The park was designated an International Dark Sky Park in 2021. A narrow 8 mile road climbs from the grassy valley through forested canyon up to overlooks and trailheads in the summit region of the "sky island" of the Chiricahua Mountains. The park has a visitor center and a limited campground (Bonita Canyon Campground), and hosts about a dozen miles of hiking trails.		 Fig. 1. Park Map. Click on map for a larger view.

The Chiracahua Mountains are an erosional remnant of a much more extensive volcanic area. Nearly 2,000 feet of volcanic rock are exposed in the pinnacles and canyons throughout the , mostly of rhyolitic composition, are preserved as ancient exposive eruption that accumulated as weld tuff and ash fall deposit, and some lava flows from massive eruptions roughly 27 million years ago. The mountains are also of tectonic origin associated with extentional block faulting throughout the Basin & Range Physiographic Province. Faulting, fracturing, and uplift of the volcanic bedrock allowed weathering erosion to carve the variety of pinnacles, spires, balanced rocks throughout the park area. For more information see these resources:

Geologic Map of Chiricahua National Monument (NPS Geologic Resources Division): https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/620181

Chiricahua National Monument Geologic Resources Inventory Report: https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/426475

This website is a photo gallery of some of the easily accessible areas in the park taken in April, 2024). More photos of some of the amazing features along back-country trails will hopefully be added soon.
 View of Bonita Creek at a creek crossing along the trail between Bonita Canyon Campground and the Visitor Center.
Fig. 2. Bonita Creek
View at the park road entrance sign to Chiricahua National Monument in the grasslands of lower Bonita Canyon.
Fig. 3. Park entrance sign 		View of the trail and parkland at Faraway Ranch, the historic ranch in lower Bonita Canyon.
Fig. 2. Faraway Ranch 		View of cliffs in morning light on the northwest side of Bonita Canyon near the campground.
Fig. 3. Cliffs in Bonita Canyon		 View of cliffs in evening light on the southeast side of Bonita Canyon near the campground.
Fig. 4. Bonita Canyon 
Cliffs of jointed rhyolite tuff above the forested northwest-facing slope of Bonita Canyon Campground.
Fig. 5. Cliffs in Bonita Canyon 		View from a forested of the narrows and pinnacles and cliffs of lower Bonita Canyon about 1/4 mile north of the campground.
Fig. 6. Bonita Canyon
Fig. 7. Bonita Canyon 		A Mexican jay is a potential "camp robber" in the Bonita Canyon Campground. Don't feed them!
Fig. 8. Mexican jay.

Fig. 9. Panoramic view of the forested valley of Bonita Canyon (east to west) from hillside near Bonita Canyon Campground. Upstream is to the left.

Chiricahua Pinnacles High Country: Massai Point, Echo Canyon, and Sugarloaf Mountain

The park's Visitor Center is located about 3 miles in from the entrance. Past the Visitor Center, the park road (Bonita Canyon Drive) slowly winds up the canyon then climps to the upland ridgecrest of the Chiricahua Mountains. Trails starting at overlooks at the Echo Canyon and Massai Point picnic areas lead through the upland. Loop trails wind through the pinnacles, spires, balanced rocks, and grottos of volcanic tuff throughout of the upland area. The Lower Rhyolite Canyon Trail connects these trails to the Visitor Center.  Another trail leads to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain is high point in the park.
View of the plateau-like high country of the Chiricahua Mountains from near trailhead for the Massai Point Trail.
Fig. 10. Massai Point Trail 		View looking down Echo Canyon from near the Massai Trailhead showing the distant basin and ranges off to the west.
Fig. 11. Massai Point Trail		 View of the high pinnacles surrounding the vicinity of Inspiration Point as seen from along the Massai Point Trail.
Fig. 12. Massai Point Trail		 Pinnacles and spires along the Massai Point Loop Trail.
Fig. 13. Massai Point Trail
View looking down Echo Canyon from along the Massai Trail.
Fig. 14. Rhyolite Canyon 		Zoom view of some of the pinnacles of rhyolite tuff as seen from Massai Point.
Fig. 15. Pinnacles & spires.		 View of the plateau surface and pinnacles of rhyolite tuff as seen from Massai Point.
Fig. 16. Pinnacles & spires.		 View from the Massai Point Loop Trail with Sugarloaf Mountain in the distance.
Fig. 17. Sugarloaf Mountain
View of a pair of buttes along the trail the connects the Echo Canyon Trail to the Massai Point Loop Trail.
Fig. 18. Echo Canyon Trail		 View of layered lava and ash bead that make up the top part of Sugarloaf Mountain.
Fig. 19. Sugarloaf Mountain		 View looking north at the crest of the Chiracahua Mountains. Cochise Head is the name of the rugged volcanic peak in the middle. This view is from the Massai Point Trailhead area. Fig. 20. Chiricahua Mountains  Zoom view of Cochise Head, the volcanic neck exposed along the crest of the Chiricahua Mountains, north of the park.
Fig. 21. Cochise Head 
 Fig. 22. Big Balanced Rock.

Selected Resources

Chiricahua National Monument - Official NPS website: https://www.nps.gov/chir

Geologic Map of Chiricahua National Monument (NPS Geologic Resources Division): https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/620181

Chiricahua National Monument Geologic Resources Inventory Report: https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/426475
This page is <https://gotbooks.miracosta.edu/gonp/ORPI/>
Last modified 5/5/2024.