NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Foundation Document Overview Chiricahua National Monument Arizona Contact Information For more information about the Chiricahua National Monument Foundation Document, contact: [email protected] or (520) 824-3560 or write to: Superintendent, Chiricahua National Monument, 12856 East Rhyolite Creek Road, Willcox, AZ 85643 Purpose Significance Significance statements express why Chiricahua National Monument resources and values are important enough to merit national park unit designation. Statements of significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. These statements are linked to the purpose of the park unit, and are supported by data, research, and consensus. Significance statements describe the distinctive nature of the park and inform management decisions, focusing efforts on preserving and protecting the most important resources and values of the park unit. • Chiricahua National Monument features distinctive and abundant examples of rhyolitic rock formations, which form a rare and impressive geologic landscape. The park’s pinnacles, spires, and balanced rocks were created 27 million years ago by one of the largest known volcanic eruptions in the American Southwest. • Chiricahua National Monument, within the scenic Chiricahua Mountains Sky Island Complex, protects exceptional biodiversity due to its location at a rare intersection of four major biomes (Sierra Madre, Rocky Mountain, Chihuahuan Desert, and Sonoran Desert). CHIRICAHUA NATIONAL MONUMENT preserves and interprets the • Chiricahua National Monument, with its federally designated wilderness area, provides an opportunity to distinctive rhyolite rock formations experience class I air quality, natural soundscapes, and one known as “the Pinnacles,” designated of the darkest night skies in the continental United States. wilderness, and features of vital historical and scientific interest for • Chiricahua National Monument preserves, in a relatively small area, evidence of a diverse human history spanning the benefit and enjoyment of current thousands of years, encompassing prehistoric indigenous and future generations. peoples, Chiricahua Apaches, Buffalo Soldiers, European American pioneers and ranchers, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and early tourists and park promoters. • Generations after being displaced from the Chiricahua Mountains, the Chiricahua Apaches and other American Indian tribes continue to feel a deep spiritual connection to these lands, which are a treasured part of their homeland. Ongoing research and discoveries continue to reveal important information about the connections between American Indians and the landscape. Fundamental Resources and Values Interpretive Themes Fundamental resources and values are those features, systems, Interpretive themes are often described as the key stories processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or or concepts that visitors should understand after visiting other attributes determined to merit primary consideration a park—they define the most important ideas or concepts during planning and management processes because they are communicated to visitors about a park unit. Themes essential to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining are derived from—and should reflect—park purpose, its significance. significance, resources, and values. The set of interpretive themes is complete when it provides the structure necessary • Distinctive Rhyolite Formations, known as “The Pinnacles.” By far the most noticeable natural features for park staff to develop opportunities for visitors to explore in Chiricahua National Monument are the rhyolite rock and relate to all of the park significances and fundamental formations that the park was established to protect. resources and values. • Native Flora and Fauna of the Madrean Sky Island • Geology. The dramatic beauty and quiet mystery of Ecosystem. The Madrean Sky Island ecosystem of the park Chiricahua National Monument belies the violent volcanic protects a great diversity of flora and fauna as well as critical deposition of white-hot ash. The resulting sediment, soils, habitat for threatened, endangered, and/or endemic species. and rocks laid the foundation for a geologic “work-in- progress.” • Wilderness Character. Eighty-six percent of Chiricahua National Monument is designated wilderness, managed • Biodiversity. Within the scenic sky island of the Chiricahua to protect the character of the landscape and to preserve Mountains, Chiricahua National Monument provides its natural, untrammeled, undeveloped, and other features visitors and researchers opportunities to explore and study of value. richly diverse plant and animal life where biological and other natural processes continue relatively unaffected by • Scenic Views and Air Quality. The Clean Air Act section human influence. 162(a) designates Chiricahua National Monument as a “Class I” area, providing special protection for air quality • Wilderness Values. The remoteness of Chiricahua National sensitive ecosystems and clean, clear views both within Monument allows contemplation and imagination through and beyond the park boundary. These views are a key solitude, exploration, and discovery of the natural world— component of the visitor experience. away from the distractions of contemporary life. • Faraway Ranch Historic District. The Faraway Ranch • Human History. Stories and evidence of struggle, Historic District includes structures, resources, and perseverance, stewardship, and connection to the land, landscapes associated with the local Chiricahua Apache, unite the experiences of the prehistoric indigenous peoples, the end of the western frontier, Buffalo Soldiers, European the Chiricahua Apaches, the Buffalo Soldiers, European American pioneers and ranches, and the people who Americans, the CCC workers, and the early settlers. All promoted early tourism in the region. left a lasting legacy and were in turn transformed by their experiences. • CCC Structures and Landscape. The Civilian Conservation Corps played a significant role in the development, interpretation, and survey of the park in the 1930s, including constructing the majority of the rustic-style stone structures, scenic drives, and trails that are still in use today. • Archeological and Ethnographic Resources. Human presence in the Chiricahua Mountains extends back to the Paleo-Indians. Archeological sites within the park illustrate how American Indians lived prior to contact with European Americans as well as the resulting, post-contact meshing of cultures. Description Located in the Sky Island region of southeast Arizona, Today the park encompasses approximately 12,000 acres of Chiricahua National Monument was established by ruggedly beautiful mountain and canyon landscape, more than President Calvin Coolidge in 1924 for the purpose 85% of which is designated wilderness. Visitors to the park can of protecting distinctive geologic features known enjoy a range of outdoor activities, including hiking, camping, as “the Pinnacles.” The park’s exceptional rhyolite picnicking, wildlife viewing, and photography. Depending on formations, the result of millions of years of violent the season, visitors may also enjoy historic tours and ranger-led geological activity, are situated in a scenic setting that educational programs. is remarkable for its rich biodiversity and “sky island” mountain ranges—so named because they, and the Chiricahua National Monument is managed as part of the NPS flora that they support, are separated from similar Southeast Arizona Group (SEAZ), which also includes Coronado “islands” by intervening valleys of grassland and desert. National Memorial and Fort Bowie National Historic Site. The park’s cultural resources are also richly diverse, including evidence of inhabitation by prehistoric people of the Cochise and Athabascan cultures, use of the area by Apaches, occupation by the US Army during the Apache Wars, settlement of the West, and early park development. COCHISE HEAD 8113ft 2473m 7825ft 2385m West W h ite ta il Trail Wilderness area Unpaved road Creek In 1976 Congress designated 0.5mi Distance Pullout/ 0.8km all of the park but the road CORONADO NATIONAL FOREST indicator corridor as wilderness. Ask parking about the regulations. Trail rating Whitetail Pass 6700ft Self-guiding trail Trail Easy 2042m Campground Trail Moderate Trail Difficult Picnic area Wilderness boundary 7060ft 2152m 6646ft 2026m WILDERNESS AREA BONITA N O PARK Y 2.4mi N 3.9km A Drive 6300ft C n 5980ft A o 1920m Eas Natural Bridge Trail 1823m IT y t N an O C W 5145ft B h 1568m a ite PICKET H it ta PARK T n il R o C B re O e k N N YO P N ICKET CA CA NYON Natural Bridge 5560ft 1695m Sea China Boy 5818ft Captain Sugarloaf 1772m 0.9mi Organ Pipe 1.4km 6840ft 2085m Formation Sugarloaf Trail LITTL Riggs E P ICK N Mountain A yon ET CANYO 6165ft T n 1879m I a Echo Canyon C SUGARLOAF 6780ft N Wilderness Wilderness boundary O e MOUNTAIN boundary 2066m s Lost CHIRICAHUA B i Ca 7310ft r ny on p 2228m 0.2mi r Echo Canyon 0.4km Bonita Canyon u 0.5mi 1.2mi S 1.6mi Grotto 0.8km 1.9km Bonita Creek NATIONAL MONUMENT 2.6km Bonita Creek Trail Silver Spur Meadow Trail Echo Canyon Trail 0.3mi 0.2mi Faraway 0.5km CORONADO 0.3km 0.2mi 0.7mi Exhibits Stafford 0.3km 1.1km Cabin 5124ft Ed Riggs Trail MASSAI POINT 1562m Erickson Cemetery 0.2mi Entrance Station 0.3km N Massai Nature Trail Faraway ECHO NATIONAL FOREST YO 0.8mi 6870ft Ranch RHY N PARK N OLIT