Chiricahua National Monument, a little-known spot way down in the southeast corner of Arizona, just got an upgrade – on October 20, 2026, it became Chiricahua National Park, number 64 on the roster of America’s Best Idea.
If you’ve never heard of Chiricahua, you’re not alone, but if you’re a nature photographer, or just a nature lover in general, you might want to put it on your list of places to explore. A couple of years ago I joined my friends Wayne Suggs and Tom Kirkendall to scout the region for Muench Workshops. We agreed that there is great potential in this rather remote location.
The most interesting part of the park for photographers is the amazing hoodoo formations – hundreds of eroded rhyolite pinnacles that can be seen and photographed from the Massai Trail. Landscape photographers will want to spend hours on various compositions. There are opportunities for both classic near-far compositions and intimate landscapes. Try switching your camera profile to Monochrome, or load up some black & white film, and channel your inner Ansel.
The Bonita Canyon area of the park includes some interesting historical buildings at Faraway Ranch, home to late 1880’s settlers. Tom and I enjoyed photographing the details of old rusty metal, weathered wood, and old homestead artifacts. I also spent some time with a wonderful old Alligator Juniper tree. Prior to settlement by immigrants, this area was for centuries home to the Chiricahua Apache people.
East of the National Park boundaries, the Coronado National Forest includes more of the Chiricahua Mountains and the lovely valley of Cave Creek. Camping in the valley for a couple of days, Wayne, Tom, and I found many more reasons to push our shutter buttons. We were there in autumn, and the Arizona Sycamore and cottonwood trees provided beautiful fall color for both broad and intimate landscapes.
And of course, Wayne being Wayne, we spent a few hours up in the mountains, finding compositions at dusk for Milky Way photography when the sky darkened. Chiricahua has been designated as an International Dark Sky Park.
The Chiricahua Mountains and especially the Cave Creek area offer a wealth of opportunities for wildlife and bird photography. Over 350 species of birds have been recorded in the area – close to half the total number of species on the continent north of Mexico! More interested in furry critters? Twenty-three percent of mammal species in North America can be found in this region, including javelinas, coatis, deer, mountain lions, and black bears.
Have you been to Chiricahua? If so, please leave a comment about your experience.
Logistics
Chiricahua National Park is about 2 hours east of Tucson International Airport via I-10. The nearest hotels and restaurants are in Wilcox, AZ, a 40-minute drive to the park entrance and Bonita Valley. There is one small campground within the park. East of the National Park, there are several USFS Campgrounds in the Cave Creek area of Coronado National Forest, as well as lodging at Cave Creek Ranch in the town of Portal. For more information, check out the official Chiricahua National Park website.
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