. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 6 h 3 min to complete. We followed the Crest Trail south, contouring past Flys Peak, coming to a meadow at Round Park, then contoured around smaller peaks before coming to Cima Park ("Park" is used in these cases to refer to saddles along the range crest). Chiricahua Peak is the highest peak of the range, but not that obvious from down below. There are miles of hiking trails amid these fascinating rock formations. I had a choiceloop south then east and approach the summit from the southeast, or loop north. That's over a $1,000 discount. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 8 h 39 min to complete. Rustler Park is the best option for hikes starting from the north on the Crest Trail. Geological history of the Chiricahua Mountains, "Coronado National Forest Chiricahua Wilderness", "Arizona Memory Project: Compound Object Viewer", "Chiricahua National Monument Historic Designed Landscape: Landscape Architecture Month: National Register of Historic Places Official Website--Part of the National Park Service", "Border Crackdowns and the Battle for Arizona", "CVO Website Arizona Volcanoes and Volcanics", "Hilltop Mine (Hand Mine; Kasper tunnel; Gray Mine; Dunn shaft; Blacksmith shaft; Rhem adit), Rustler Park, California District, Chiricahua Mts, Cochise Co., Arizona, USA", "Sky Islands of North America: A globally unique and threatened inland archipelago", "Audubon: Birds & Science [-109.28, 31.9057] Chiricahua Mountains, Coronado National Forest", "The mission to return jaguars to the US: 'We aren't right without them', "Southwestern Research Station | American Museum Natural History", "Winter Views of the Eastern Chiricahuas The Firefly Forest", The Nature Explorers Chiricahua Expedition, Chiricahua Peak Summit, trails, mountainzone.com, (coord), Map of Chiricahua and Dos Cabezas Mountains, Chiricahua Peloncillo Historical Society, Chiricahuas: Mountain Islands in the Desert (1998), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chiricahua_Mountains&oldid=1134366760, Mountain ranges of Cochise County, Arizona, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 January 2023, at 09:36. We enjoyed ourselves and it was nice to be back, especially with B.. After about 20 minutes, we started the leisurely hike out, following the same route as we took coming up. After another three-quarters of a mile, it crossed the creek bed, then paralled up the left side for another 1.5 miles. It is flat for a few hundred yards, then swings left, where a sign mentions the distance to the peak as 5 miles. 2006-2021 SummitPost.org. The benchmark's elevation is listed as 9,795 feet, which is probably a mistake. Led at first by Chief Cochise (for whom the county is named), and after Cochise's death, by Geronimo, the Apache, numbering just a few hundred, fought vigorously and remained at large until 1886, when Geronimo was captured. The creek itself had running water down low, fed by springs. Breathtaking at the top and well worth the effort! The creek itself had running water down low, fed by springs. The weather was spectacularbreezy and cool, but not cold. The trailhead's elevation is approximately 6,400 feet. Crossing these obstacles was easy at first, but soon, especially on the final approach heading south of the saddle to the peak, the quantity of deadfall was enormous. For the first time I had an actual view of the peaks above me, although Chiricahua's summit was still hidden by trees. Categories: 3,343 Albums: 68 Uploaded Media: 557,806 Embedded Media: 720 Comments: 446,104 Disk Usage: 233.1 GB So here it was, a month later. Our "hunt" had been a success. After gathering my gear and talking with some guy camping, I hit the trail. From here it's about 6 miles one way to the peak along the Crest Trail (270).A sub-option at Rustlers Park is to drive another 1.4 miles south along a very rocky road to Long Park, which cuts off nearly 5 miles of r/t hiking and about 1,000 feet of gain. The road segment to Long Park is rough, needing 4-wheel drive, but I took it slow and we arrived at Long Park in cool, clear conditions. Thankfully, this segment wasn't too long and soon I arrived at the summit, exactly three hours after starting my hike. Past the campgrounds and trailheads at Rustler Park, we drove to the guard station buildings and found the gate to a lesser road leading to Long Park. At the time of Spanish colonial contact, the Chiricahua lived in what are now the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Conditions: Sunny and cool   Arizona We chose to approach the peak via the Crest Trail, with Rustler Park as our first choice but also keeping our options open depending on road conditions and other factors. They had come up the upper Mormon Creek trail and they mentioned there were good views along this route. I arrived back to my truck at 2 p.m. The eruption was so massive, it created a literal wall of mountains, where the range crests stay above 9,000 feet for miles at a time, resulting in numerous bumps of nearly equal height. Gain: 500 feet The Chiricahua sky island rises about . PB LoJ 9.32 mi / 3143 ft gain Parts were nice, parts had downed trees and branches obstructing the way, and all of it was covered under a heavy mat of pine needles, cones and leaves. I left home at 4:15 a.m. and arrived to the range by 8:00 a.m. With this ascent, I had my 11th Arizona County highpoint completed, a task I would finish a few months later. Roger Weller, geology instructor. Spanning 12,025 acres in southern Arizona, Chiricahua National Monument is the result of the eruption of Turkey Creek Volcano millions of years ago; as the ash cooled, it formed rhyolite layers that eroded . The next day we returned to the Monument and did two hikes: a 3.5-mile loop through the Heart of Rocks and its spectacular rock formations, and a 2-mile hike up Sugarloaf Peak. First Visit, February 2000: I was here in January to hike Chiricahua Peak, intending to hike the Crest Trail from Rustler Park. Then, I met the love of my life, married her, and we came back in November 2003 for another visit, her first time in the range. At the top, the trail began a short but steep series of switchbacks. I took the "lower" one, the one literally in the creekbed (the "upper" one's trailhead is about a half-mile west of the lower's trailhead, but there is no convenient parking for that trailhead). The trail begins at the end of the Sycamore campsites off a spur from Turkey Creek Road. The fort was decommissioned in 1894 and today is just stone foundations and the occasional adobe walls that look like they're melting into the earth. The summit is marked by a benchmark in a boulder situated at the base of a large tree. Growing at elevations from around 5000 to over 7000 feet, the habitat transitions from lowland desert scrub to upper elevation pine-fir forests. Interestingly enough, the peak does have a little shade as some of the trees were spared right on top. wellerr@cochise.edu. NEVER WEAR SHORTS! The fort was decommissioned in 1894 and today is just stone foundations and the occasional adobe walls that look like they're melting into the earth. [10][11] The last major eruption, 27 million years ago, created the Turkey Creek Caldera and laid down 2,000 feet (610m) of volcanic ash which fused into welded rhyolite tuff. The day was clear and brilliant, with 200-mile views in some directions, or five-foot views into the trees. I eased the truck down the road and from Rustler Park, we drove down to the Chiricahua National Monument. The benchmark's elevation is listed as 9,795 feet, which is probably a mistake. The next day we returned to the Monument and did two hikes: a 3.5-mile loop through the Heart of Rocks and its spectacular rock formations, and a 2-mile hike up Sugarloaf Peak. LoJ From here it was a consistently moderate uphill grade along nice wide trail. 85643, Download the official NPS app before your next visit. Experience this 8.6-mile out-and-back trail near Rodeo, New Mexico. Quality of the trail ranged from good to scant. The Chiricahua Mountains from the north The weather had been mild and I hoped the snow had melted off. It is flat for a few hundred yards, then swings left, where a sign mentions the distance to the peak as 5 miles. Second Visit, November 2003: and I planned to hike another Arizona county highpoint while the weather state-wide remained mild. When to Climb The best time to climb this peak would be spring or fall. The most popular route comes in from the north via Rustler Park campground, high on the main range crest. Then the trail parallelled the creek on the right as one faces uphill. Since the wildfire that went thru here years ago, the area is pretty devastated. This peak offers excellent scenic views. The blast sent prodigious amounts of ash into the air. LoJ The creek itself had running water down low, fed by springs. Chiricahua Peak - Cochise County AZ Highpoint Our trip report from 2000 and 2003. Further useful information can be found at the county highpointers website: Cochise County, Arizona, There are many routes up/down this mountain. Starting along the Silver Peak Trail. Prominence: 661 feet Generally, this peak can be climbed about 9 months of the year. In 2011 the Horseshoe 2 Fire burned a total of 223,000 acres (90,000ha) within the Chiricahua Mountains causing considerable damage to the trail system.[5]. Arduous hike, felt never ending. I salvaged the day with a drive up the Coronado Highway and a visit to the Greenlee County Highpoint, plus a speeding ticket. I followed the same route as I had come up. The next day we returned to the Monument and did two hikes: a 3.5-mile loop through the Heart of Rocks and its spectacular rock formations, and a 2-mile hike up Sugarloaf Peak. Print a Map Plus. The Chiricahua Mountains massif is a large mountain range in southeastern Arizona which is part of the Basin and Range province of the west and southwestern United States and northwest Mexico; the range is part of the Coronado National Forest. We chose to approach the peak via the Crest Trail, with Rustler Park as our first choice but also keeping our options open depending on road conditions and other factors. The mountains contain Precambrian basement rocks, Paleozoic and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks around a caldera complex formed by volcanic eruptions and intrusions 35-25 million years ago. MM BH Pass . Time: 6 hours in 2000, 3 hours in 2003 The weather was spectacularbreezy and cool, but not cold. The highest point, Chiricahua Peak, rises 9,759 feet (2,975m) above sea level, approximately 6,000 feet (1,800m) above the surrounding valleys. $557,900. Elevation: 7,310 feet Riparian means the forest is found near a water drainage-way. The eruption was so massive, it created a literal wall of mountains, where the range crests stay above 9,000 feet for miles at a time, resulting in numerous bumps of nearly equal height. Distance Learning It has been listed on Rocket Homes since February 28, 2023 and is currently priced at $535,000. In Chiricahua, this is an oak woodland or riparian forest. See campground regulations and map. The day was mild but cold, and snow from a recent storm still everywhere. v Book MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES ON ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY IN THE A talus field (with no trees) allowed for excellent views all the way down to the desert floor. Chiricahua Peak Via Mormon Canyon Trail. Past the campgrounds and trailheads at Rustler Park, we drove to the guard station buildings and found the gate to a lesser road leading to Long Park. , and snow from a recent storm still everywhere talking with some guy camping, I the. 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