11 Best Sights in Southern Arizona, Arizona

Vast fields of desert grass are suddenly transformed into a landscape of forest, mountains, and striking rock formations as you enter the 12,000-acre Chiricahua National Monument. The Chiricahua Apache—who lived in the mountains for centuries and, led by Cochise and Geronimo, tried for 25 years to prevent white pioneers from settling here—dubbed it "the Land of the Standing-Up Rocks." Enormous outcroppings of volcanic rock have been worn by erosion and fractured by uplift into strange pinnacles and spires. Because of the particular balance of sunshine and rain in the area, April and May see brown, yellow, and red leaves coexisting with new green foliage. Summer in Chiricahua National Monument is exceptionally wet: from July through September there are thunderstorms nearly every afternoon. Few other areas in the United States have such varied plant, bird, and animal life. Deer, coatimundi, peccaries, and lizards live among the aspen, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, oak, and cypress trees—to name just a few.

Chiricahua National Monument is an excellent area for bird-watchers, and hikers have more than 17 miles of scenic trails. Hiking-trail maps and advice are available at the visitor center. A popular and rewarding hike is the moderately easy Echo Canyon Loop Trail, a 3½-mile path that winds through cavelike grottos, brilliant rock formations, and a wooded canyon. Birds and other wildlife are abundant.

Bird-watchers consider Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge unique because it's the only place in the United States where they can see a "grand slam" (four species) of quail: Montezuma quail, Gambel's quail, scaled quail, and masked bobwhite. If it rains, the 100-acre Aguirre Lake, 1½ miles north of the headquarters, attracts wading birds, shorebirds, and waterfowl—in all, more than 320 avian species have been spotted here. The quail share the turf with deer, coati, badgers, bobcats, and mountain lions. Touring options include a 10-mile auto tour; nature trails; a 3¾-mile guided hike in Brown Canyon (second and fourth Saturdays, November–April, or call to arrange other dates for private groups); a boardwalk through the marshes at Arivaca Cienega; and guided bird walks, also at Arivaca Cienega (November–April, first Saturday at 8). Admission and guided bird walks are free; Brown Canyon hikes cost $5. Pick up maps at the visitor center.

This 860,000-acre national wildlife refuge, about 5 miles (a 10-minute drive) from Ajo, was established in 1939 as a preserve for endangered bighorn sheep and other Sonoran Desert wildlife, including the long-nosed bat and the Sonoran pronghorn deer, the fastest mammal in North America. People come here for hiking, photography, and primitive desert camping.

A free permit, essentially a "hold-harmless" agreement, is required to enter, and only those with four-wheel drive, high-clearance vehicles, or all-terrain vehicles—needed to traverse the rugged terrain—can obtain one.

Pick up a permit from the refuge's visitor center in Ajo, about a mile north of the downtown plaza.

Learn about the fierce Chiricahua Apaches and the fearless leaders Cochise and Geronimo at this research center, located in downtown Willcox. Other interesting tidbits about the area can be found in displays featuring the U.S. Cavalry, a nice collection of rocks and minerals, and relics of the famed Butterfield Overland Stage Route. One oddity the museum points out is that the memoirs of Civil War general Orlando Willcox, for whom the town was named, don't even mention a visit to Arizona.

Those driving to Coronado National Memorial, dedicated to Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, will see many of the same stunning vistas of Arizona and Mexico the conquistador saw when he trod this route in 1540 seeking the mythical Seven Cities of Cibola. Hikers come here for both the excellent views and the opportunity to walk the 1-mile Yaqui Trail, the southernmost leg of the 800-mile Arizona Trail, that ends at the Mexico border. The views are excellent atop the nearly 7,000-foot Coronado Peak; to get there you drive (or walk) a little more than 3 miles up a dirt road from the visitor center to Montezuma Pass Overlook, and then go another ½ mile on foot only. There's also Crest Trail, a difficult but rewarding 12-mile round trip to Miller Peak, the highest point in the Huachuca Mountains (9,466 feet).

Kids ages 5 to 12 can participate in the memorial's Junior Ranger program, explore Coronado Cave, and dress up in replica Spanish armor.

The turnoff for the monument is 16 miles south of Sierra Vista on AZ 92; the visitor center is 5 miles farther.

It's a bit of an outing to get to the site of Arizona's last battle between Native Americans and U.S. troops in the Dos Cabezas (Two-Headed) Mountains, but history buffs will find it an interesting hike with the added benefit of high-desert scenic beauty. Once a focal point for military operations—the fort was built here because Apache Pass was an important travel route for Native Americans and wagon trains—it now serves as a sobering reminder of the brutal clashes between the two cultures. The fort itself is virtually in ruins, but there's a small ranger-staffed visitor center with historical displays, restrooms, and books for sale.

A 1½-mile historic trail, moderately easy but rocky in some areas, leads to the visitor center and ruins. (Those with mobility issues can drive up to the visitor center.) Points of interest along the way include the remnants of an Apache wickiup (hut), the fort cemetery, Apache Springs (their water source), and the Butterfield stage stop, a crucial link in the journey from east to west in the mid-19th century that happened to be in the heart of Chiricahua Apache land. The alternate trail, looping back to the parking area, is higher and affords nice views of the ruins and surrounding hills.

Three miles from the fort's main gate are the Fort Huachuca museums. The late-19th-century bachelor officers' quarters and the annex across the street provide a record of military life on the frontier and the Buffalo Soldiers regiments, most of whom were based here. More often than not, you'll be sharing space with new cadets learning about the history of this far-flung outpost. Motion sensors activate odd little sound bites in the multimedia experience. Another half block south, the U.S. Army Intelligence Museum focuses on American intelligence operations from the Apache Scouts through Desert Storm. Code machines, codebooks, decoding devices, and other intelligence-gathering equipment are on display. You need a driver's license or other photo identification to get on base.

International visitors need to call at least 3 weeks in advance to arrange for a military escort.

A guided, volunteer-led tour is a good way to visit this wildlife refuge and birder's paradise. The peak seasons for bird-watching are spring and fall, when you can expect to see everything from pelicans and cormorants to Canada geese, snowy egrets, and some rarer species. Mid-October through May is the most pleasant time to visit, as it's cooler and the ever-present mosquitoes are least active.

Kids especially enjoy the 1¼-mile Painted Desert Trail, which winds through the different levels of the Sonoran Desert. From an observation tower at the visitor center, you can see the river as well as the fields where migrating birds like to feed. You can sign up for guided walks from November through March.

The San Pedro River, partially rerouted underground by an 1887 earthquake, may not look like much, but it sustains an impressive array of flora and fauna and makes for great hiking and birding. To maintain this fragile creekside ecosystem, 56,000 acres along the river were designated a protected riparian area in 1988. More than 350 species of birds come here, as well as 82 mammal species and 45 reptiles and amphibians. Animals from long ago—including woolly mammoths and mastodons—also make their former presence here known through the area's massive fossil pits; in fact, many of the huge skeletons in Washington's Smithsonian Institute and New York's Museum of Natural History came from here. As evidenced by a number of small, unexcavated ruins, the migratory tribes who passed through thousands of years later also found this valley hospitable, in part because of its many useful plants. Information, guided tours and bird walks, books, and gifts are available from the volunteer staff at San Pedro House, a visitor center operated by Friends of the San Pedro River (sanpedroriver.org/wpfspr).

You can see the original printing presses for the town's newspaper and watch a video about the production process at the Tombstone Epitaph Museum. The newspaper was founded in 1880 by John P. Clum, a colorful character in his own right, and is still publishing today. You can purchase one of the newspaper's special editions—The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp, The Life and Times of Doc Holliday, or Tombstone's Pioneering Prostitutes.

If you visit in winter, you can see some of the more than 10,000 sandhill cranes that roost at the Willcox Playa, a 37,000-acre area resembling a dry lake bed 10 miles south of town. They migrate in late fall and head north to nesting sites in February, and bird-watchers migrate to Willcox the third week in January for the annual Wings over Willcox bird-watching event held in their honor.