This would be an easy place to miss. On the map, it was just a little bit of green stuck way down in the south-east part of Arizona, close to New Mexico and the Mexican border. For a reason I can't now remember, we decided to give it a visit, and we were very glad that we did. It's a little gem of a park: quiet, scenic, great hiking trails, unusual flora and fauna (again)!
First, you pronounce the name as if it was "cheery-cow-a". The Visitor Centre has a cute set of icons explaining how to do this. I gather they hear it mis-pronounced often. We stayed here for 3 nights in a nice little campground surrounded with Utah Juniper, Arizona Cypress and various varieties of Oak trees, Mexican Jays, Acorn Woodpeckers and a couple species of Juncos. More pictures of the area can be found on my Facebook page.
Chiricahua is a "sky island": an area of mountains and hills poking up from the surrounding prairie. Because of the elevation difference, the climate differs from the desert nearby, and with different climate comes different plants and animals. I've also alluded to some of the variety of trees in the area. We spent some of our time hiking around looking for a Coatamundi. They are residents of Mexico and areas south, but have taken up living further north in Chiricahua. We didn't see any, so this picture from the web will have to do for now.
One very nice feature of this little park is the shuttle bus they provide each morning to take hikers to the top of the mountain so they can follow the various hiking trails down to the valley again. This was the best way to experience the fantastic rock formations. We spent a very pleasant few hours following one of these trails.
Originally, much of this area was part of an old homestead and farm. Some of the original buildings are still standing. Later on, after the area was set aside as a park, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) created many of the trails that visitors use today.
Chiricahua: definitely worth a visit.
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