Day Trip To Chiricahua National Monument

Chiricahua National Monument is located in the southeast Arizona and approximately 2 hours drive from Tucson. This is one of my favorite option for a day trip to Chiricahua National monument while living in Tucson.

Getting to Chiricahua National Monument

Chiricahua National Monument is located in Chiricahua Mountains. You can take I-10 going towards El-Paso from Tucson and take exit in Wilcox towards the monument. The drive from Wilcox towards the monument is historic and scenic itself. I recommend to fill up gas at Wilcox or before that since you wouldn’t be able to find gas stations on your way to monument.

Visitor Center

After entering the monument area, stop at the visitor center to use restrooms and fill up water bottles. The visitor center is clean and nice and take a map to explore this beautiful monument.

Hiking

Chiricahua National Monument has a lot of hiking options. My favorite hike is parking at the visitor center and starting at the base and hiking up to the Chiricahua Mountains and exploring this beautiful site. The hike is long and scenic and I highly recommend taking a lot of water and snacks with you. You can stop at multiple locations along the way and capture beautiful visuals through your lenses. The rock formations and balanced rocks are incredible to watch. After returning from the hike, we used the picnic area next to visitor center to enjoy our lunch and recover from our long hike.

Drive to the Top

After enjoying our lunch at the visitor center, we took the scenic road to the top of the mountain. If you have limited time, I highly recommend to drive all the way to the top of the mountain and enjoy the amazing rock formations of this monument. There are pull-outs along the road to stop and appreciate the beauty of giant rock formations. At the top of the mountain, there are multiple parking areas and established hiking trails as well to emerge yourself in this natural beauty.

 

After spending the whole day exploring Chiricahua National Monument hiking and driving, we left the park before the closing time.  Anyone living in Tucson or passing through I-10, I would recommend to explore this beautiful monument of giant balanced rock formations. 

Chiricahua National Monument

Chiricahua National Monument
Chiricahua National Monument
Chiricahua National Monument

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