Arizona State Route 186 and the Dos Cabezas Mountains

State Route 186 (SR 186) is a highway in

Cochise County, Arizona Cochise County () is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise. The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Bisbee and the most populous city is ...

that runs from its junction with

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

in Willcox to its junction with SR 181 west of the

Chiricahua National Monument Chiricahua National Monument is a unit of the National Park System located in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. The monument was established on April 18, 1924, to protect its extensive hoodoos and balancing rocks. The Faraway Ra ...

. It is a northwest–southeast diagonal route.

Route description

The western terminus of SR 186 is located at Virginia Avenue, west of an interchange with I-10, in Willcox. It heads east beyond I-10 along Rex Allen Drive to an intersection with the I-10 Business Loop. SR 186 heads southwest from this intersection concurrent with I-10 Bus. until it reaches Maley Street. At this intersection, SR 186 follows Maley St. to the southeast as I-10 Bus. continues to the southwest. SR 186 heads southeast from Willcox until it curves towards the east at an intersection with Kansas Settlement Road. The highway continues on this heading until it curves towards the south after passing through Dos Cabezas. The highway curves back towards the southeast until it curves back towards the south near its eastern terminus. The eastern terminus of SR 186 is located at ain intersection with SR 181 west of the

. Aside from its endpoint in Willcox, SR 186 passes through only sparsely populated terrain, and there are no other cities or towns along the route. It serves primarily as an access road for the monument, providing a more convenient route for travelers coming from the north.

History

The route was added the Arizona's state highway system in 1955, when a county road was given rights to the

Arizona Department of Transportation The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT, pronounced "A-Dot") is an Arizona state government agency charged with facilitating mobility within the state. In addition to managing the state's state highways, highway system, the agency is also i ...

. The highway was paved from Willcox southeast for approximately four miles in 1960 before being moved a year later. The highway was then re-extended into the city of Willcox in 1968 and formally established as a state highway in 1970, when the definition of a state highway was refined in 1970. Since then, there have been no routing changes on SR 186.

Junction list

References

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Transportation in Cochise County, Arizona