About 90 minutes north east from Bisbee Arizona, is a national monument that took my breath away. Ok, so I didn’t research this monument before going, so I didn’t know what to expect; I love national parks and monuments so it didn’t really matter what was there….but pinnacles and trees hidden in the high desert wasn’t something I thought about.
A quick stop to the visitor center, I was greeted by a ranger who suggested a 9.5 mile “Big Loop” that covers most of the highlights. 6-7 is usually my comfort zone, but I didn’t want to miss out.
We drove up to Echo Canyon parking lot, added more layers because the wind was strong and cool, grabbed our gear and started to the trail counterclockwise. Echo Canyon Trail to Upper Ryholite Canyon Trail to Sara Deming Trail to the Heart of the Rocks loop (go clockwise) to Big Balanced Rock Trail to Mushroom Rock Trail to Ed Riggs Trail. We ended up skipping Inspiration Pointe, so the trail was more like 8.6 miles, which we did in about 5 1/2 hours with a lunch break and stops to catch our breath, chat with others, and take pictures. After the hike we drove a bit further to Massai Pointe for a quick peek and headed out.
The trail started great, slowing going down hill on a nice path. The first highlight was the “grottos” but there were a lot of people there, so while I would have loved to look around a bit, we kept going. Rhyolite rock pinnacles started to appear everywhere. As we neared the bottom of the decent, the trail becomes lush and foresty as we slowly started to ascend. It was nice to have the cover from the trees to make going up more enjoyable. The Heart of the Rocks loops was, for me, probably the most difficult as some of the steps were quite high and it was about that time I was a little hungry and needed a little break from walking (4.3 miles in, 4.3 miles go to). The formations in the Heart of the Rocks was very cool, and definitely worth the extra 1.1 miles. The final 3.3 miles was mostly in the sun.
The National Park Service did a great job with their trail marker signs. They were large very clearly marking the names of the trails with directional arrows as well as miles, although light in color to blend with the view, sometimes a little hard to read with the sun. Additionally, the visitor center rest room was spotless, and the trails were all very well maintained.
Links:
Chiricahua National Monument Website
Chiricahua National Monument Map (NPS)
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