Fantastic, awesome, surreal, inSPIRE-ing are some of the adjectives that come to mind when describing the rock wonderland of Chiricahua National Monument. The Chiricahua Apaches, for whom these mountains are named, called this a land of “Standing Rocks”, an apt description for the countless spires and eroded columns of volcanic rock that line the canyon walls.
It’s about a 7-hour drive to get to Chiricahua from Albuquerque. There is a small campground at the monument and we made our visit there a 2-night stay at the campground. Considering the long drive, that left us with only one full day for hiking. We really should have planned it so that we would have had one more day to hike. It’s not a large area, and the trails aren’t that long, but there is just so much to marvel at that you have to take your time wandering the trails. There’s a whole section of the rock formations that we didn’t have time to see. But that leaves us something to look forward to on our next visit.
Living Wonderously 