What a find! Chiricahua National Monument is in south east Arizona, about 3.5 hours from our home. It has a little something for everyone. Starting at the visitor’s center, there is an 8 mile scenic drive that climbs from the lower elevation grasslands, to the summit at Massai Point, where you can overlook all of the pinnacles and valleys. There are trails along the scenic drive, some are pet friendly, and some are not, and they range from the handicap accessible Massai Point Nature Trail to The Big Loop which is 9.5 miles and takes most of a day. It is such a scenic area that you can’t go wrong with your choice. There is also one campground in Chiricahua National Monument, but I think you need to reserve your spot early. It was full when we were there.
These rocks are near the bottom of the scenic drive. I think the large rock on the right looks like a charging elephant.
As you drive along the scenic drive there are beautiful views in all directions.
We chose the Echo Canyon Loop as our hike because we wanted to see the Grottos. The hike itself was beautiful, but the Grottoes were way too much fun to pass up.
Before we knew it (~0.5 miles each way), we were at the Grottoes. A mangled, interwoven structure of rocks that you can climb in and through. It is a super impressive area to explore, with even more beautiful views looking out from the different grottos.
We ended right back where we started, and since we had gotten a later start to our explorations than we had hoped (helping fix a flat trailer tire on the side of a back country road earlier in the day), it was time to go find a campsite. We went back down to the visitors center and asked one of the rangers to point us to some good disbursed camping in Coronado National Forest, and once again, we were not disappointed. More to come in my next post…
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