The Huachuca Mountains are part of the Sierra Vista Ranger District of the

Coronado National Forest The Coronado National Forest is a United States National Forest that includes an area of about 1.78 million acres (7,200 km2) spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. It is located in parts of ...

Cochise County 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 ...

in southeastern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, approximately south-southeast of

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

and southwest of the city of

Sierra Vista Sierra Vista is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 45,308, and is the 27th most populous city in Arizona. The city is part of the Sierra Vista-Douglas Metropolitan Are ...

. Included in this area is the highest peak in the Huachucas, Miller Peak, and the region of the Huachucas known as

Canelo Hills The Canelo Hills are a range of low mountains or hills in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The range consists of a series of northwest–southeast trending ridges extending from the Sonoita Creek valley southwest of Sonoita to the Parker Can ...

in eastern Santa Cruz County. The mountains range in elevation from at the base to at the top of Miller Peak. The second highest peak in this range is Carr Peak, elevation . The Huachuca Mountain area is managed principally by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

(Coronado National Forest) (41%) and the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

( Fort Huachuca) (20%), with much of the rest being private land (32%). Sierra Vista is the main population center (43,888 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census). The Huachuca Mountains were named by the Spanish for a

Pima Pima or PIMA may refer to: People * Pima people, the Akimel O'odham, Indigenous peoples in Arizona (U.S.) and Sonora (Mexico) Places * Pima, Arizona, a town in Graham County * Pima County, Arizona * Pima Canyon, in the Santa Catalina Mountains ...

village that once existed to the north of the range near the present location of

Elgin, Arizona Elgin is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 161 at the 2010 census. Geography Elgin is located along the Babocomari River at (31.629095, -110.571951). The Babocomari is known to h ...

Coronado National Memorial The Coronado National Memorial commemorates the first organized expedition into the Southwest by conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540. The memorial is located in a natural setting on the Mexico–United States border on the southeas ...

is in the southeastern margin of the range near the

Mexico–United States border The Mexico–United States border ( es, frontera Estados Unidos–México) is an international border separating Mexico and the United States, extending from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traver ...

and includes

Montezuma Pass The Coronado National Memorial commemorates the first organized expedition into the Southwest by conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540. The memorial is located in a natural setting on the Mexico–United States border on the southeas ...

, a possible entry point of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado into what is now Arizona in 1540. The range extends a short distance south of the border in

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Vegetation

Vegetation in the Huachucas varies from Chihuahua whitethorn scrub and semi-desert mixed grass/mixed scrub, at the lower elevations, to Encinal mixed oak, and transitions to

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

and

Apache pine ''Pinus engelmannii'', commonly known as the Apache pine, is a tree of Northern Mexico, in the Sierra Madre Occidental with its range extending a short distance into the United States in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. This pine ...

at the highest elevations.

Climate data

* Average precipitation: 20" on peaks; 15" at base * Average high/low winter temperatures (°F): 35/20 on peaks; 60/35 at base * Average high/low summer temperatures (°F): 75/50 on peaks; 95/65 at base

Recreation

Hiking

The Huachucas present many hiking possibilities and scenic drives. Some entail narrow dirt roads with switchbacks and pull-outs. High summits, sheer cliffs, and deep canyons distinguish this rugged area of . Trails climb from all sides of the range to the Miller Peak Wilderness. Along the trails there are opportunities to see a number of rare butterflies of Arizona (see

List of butterflies and moths of Arizona This is a list of butterflies and moths—species of the order Lepidoptera—that have been observed in the U.S. state of Arizona. Butterflies and moths A partial list of the butterflies and moths that can be found within the borders of ...

), as well as plants that are more commonly found in the Sierra Madre Occidental. Trails begin on the east side of Ash Canyon, Miller Canyon, Carr Canyon, and Ramsey Canyon roads, from the south at Montezuma Pass in the

, and from the west via Oversite trail, Ida, Bear, and Sunnyside canyons. The Crest Trail between Montezuma Pass and Fort Huachuca ties all of the trails together. There are some 50 trails altogether. Trail users may encounter immigrants on the mountain trails; no negative incidents have ever been reported by Arizona Trail Association users. The mountains include the type locality for a number of plant species collected by the

Lemmons Lemmons, also known as Gladsmuir and Gladsmuir House, was the home of novelists Kingsley Amis (1922–1995) and Elizabeth Jane Howard (1923–2014) on the south side of Hadley Common, Barnet, on the border of north London and Hertfordshire. ...

and named by

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

Birdwatching

This area is appreciated for its birdwatching opportunities including some Arizona specialties such as

hummingbirds Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

trogons The trogons and quetzals are birds in the order Trogoniformes which contains only one family, the Trogonidae. The family Trogonidae contains 46 species in seven genera. The fossil record of the trogons dates back 49 million years to the Early E ...

, and

tyrant flycatchers The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a Family (biology), family of passerine birds which occur throughout North America, North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds known to exist in the world, with more than 400 ...

, including some rare birds such as the blue-throated, white-eared, and

berylline hummingbird The berylline hummingbird (''Saucerottia beryllina'') is a species of hummingbird in the "emeralds", tribe Trochilini of subfamily Trochilinae. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States. Taxonomy and system ...

s; also buff-breasted flycatchers; and black-throated gray, red-faced, and Grace's warblers; also red crossbills and numerous other bird species.

Border wall

The mountain ecosystem is threatened by both the influx of litter from illegal immigrants and the

border barrier A border barrier is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, and smuggling. Some such barr ...

being constructed by the administration of

Arizona Governor The governor of Arizona is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arizona. As the top elected official, the governor is the head of the executive branch of the Arizona state government and is charged with faithfully executing state laws. Th ...

Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey (, né Roscoe Jr.; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 23rd governor of Arizona since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Ducey was previously the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, a c ...

. Despite lack of authorization from federal authorities, Ducey is constructing a wall of

shipping containers A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated box design, corrugated b ...

along the border on land owned by the

. Ecologists argue that this construction threatened endangered species such as

jaguars The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

and

ocelots The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southwe ...

, and therefore violates federal laws such as the Endangered Species Act. For that reason the

Center for Biological Diversity The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit membership organization known for its work protecting endangered species through legal action, scientific petitions, creative media and grassroots activism. It was founded in 1989 by Kieran Suckl ...

has sued to halt construction. Construction is expected to stop when governor-elect

Katie Hobbs Kathleen Marie Hobbs (born December 28, 1969) is an American politician and social worker who is the governor-elect of Arizona, having been elected in 2022. She has served as the 21st secretary of state of Arizona since 2019. A member of the ...

takes office. Hobbs has stated intention to remove the containers after taking office.

Gallery

File:Montezumapass2.JPG, View from Montezuma Pass looking south & west into Mexico File:Montezumapass.JPG, View from Montezuma Pass looking east File:Huachuca Mountains From Patagonia Mountains Arizona 2014.JPG, The Huachuca Mountains, as seen from across

San Rafael Valley The San Rafael Valley is a high intermontane grass valley in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The valley is bounded to the west by the Patagonia Mountains, to the north and northeast by the Canelo Hills and to the east by the Huachuca Mountain ...

in the Patagonia Mountains File:Huachuca Mountains in the Winter2.jpg, Northern portion of the Huachuca Mountains in the winter File:Miller Canyon.jpg, Miller Canyon File:Huachuca Mts - Carr and Ramsey Peaks.JPG, View of Carr Peak (middle left) and Ramsey Peak (right) in the Huachuca Mountains File:Panaramic View, Miller Canyon, Hereford, AZ.jpg, View of Hereford from inside of Miller Canyon

References

External links

Trails of the Huachucas
Agave Guides
WildFire Alternatives, Huachuca Study Area
University of Arizona.

Arizona Handbook
The Huachuca Mountains
Virtual Birder.
Huachuca Trail Segments
Southern Arizona Hiking Club. * {{Authority control Mountain ranges of Cochise County, Arizona Madrean Sky Islands mountain ranges Coronado National Forest Mountain ranges of Arizona