Picacho Peak State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

surrounding Picacho Peak in Picacho,

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 ...

. The park is located between

Casa Grande , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Casa Grande-Casa Grande Union High School-1920-2.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Historic Casa Grande Union High School which now serves as the ...

and

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 ...

near

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 ...

Pinal County Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...

. Its centerpiece spire is visible from downtown Tucson, a distance of . The summit rises to above mean sea level. Though appearing to be the remnant of a volcanic neck, it is now believed to be a tilted and eroded piece of rock overlain by a lava flow.

Name

The place name ''Picacho Peak'' is etymologically redundant: ''picacho'' means 'peak' in Spanish. In 1775 the peak was referred to as ''Cerro de Taca'' 'Taca Hill' by Father

Francisco Garcés Francisco Hermenegildo Tomás Garcés (April 12, 1738 – July 18, 1781) was a Spanish Franciscan friar who served as a missionary and explorer in the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. He explored much of the southwestern region of North Amer ...

, using the Oʼodham name ''Tcacca'' or ''Taceo''. It was also called ''Picacho del Tucson'' 'Tucson Peak' in the past.

Description

The park is celebrated for wildflowers that appear mid-February to early April following good winter rain. Though set next to an interstate highway, the park's west face possesses an unspoiled

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Arizona ...

setting. A small flat space on top of the spire can be reached via two trail heads. Portions of the trails are precarious, and hikers are aided by cables and catwalks. These additions make the routes some of the few

via ferrata A via ferrata (Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and languages except n ...

in the United States. From the top, there is a view south to the

Santa Catalina Mountains The Santa Catalina Mountains, commonly referred to as the Catalina Mountains or the Catalinas, are north and northeast of Tucson in Arizona, United States, on Tucson's north perimeter. The mountain range is the most prominent in the Tucson area, w ...

near Tucson, east across Interstate 10 to Newman Peak, northwest to Tabletop Mountain near Casa Grande, north to the many mountain ranges surrounding

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, and west to where the north-running Santa Cruz River runs underground supporting farms in a quaint desert valley. Park rangers recommend that hikers wear sturdy boots and carry two liters of water per person. Gloves are commonly used to help grip the cables.

History

The

Butterfield Overland Mail Butterfield Overland Mail (officially the Overland Mail Company)Waterman L. Ormsby, edited by Lyle H. Wright and Josephine M. Bynum, "The Butterfield Overland Mail", The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, 1991. was a stagecoach service i ...

route had a stop near Picacho Peak. The park is near the site of the

Battle of Picacho Pass The Battle of Picacho Pass, also known as the Battle of Picacho Peak, was an engagement of the American Civil War on April 15, 1862. The action occurred around Picacho Peak, northwest of Tucson, Arizona. It was fought between a Union cavalry ...

, one of several

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

era engagements to occur in

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

. A

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

cavalry patrol from California skirmished with

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

scouts from Texas, and three men were killed. This marks the second westernmost battle of the American Civil War.The westernmost engagement was at

Stanwix Station Stanwix Station, in western Arizona, was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail Stagecoach line built in the later 1850s near the Gila River about east of Yuma, Arizona. Originally the station was called Flap Jack Ranch later Grinnell's Ran ...

on the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of n ...

. Every year during early March, there are reenactments of the battle and other demonstrations of Civil War military history.

Appearances in fiction

Picacho Peak features prominently in the novel '' The Host'' by

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; née Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 100 mill ...

, serving as a guide to the main character in the first act of the story. Much of the action of the novel takes place in or near the state park.

Gallery

File:Picacho.jpg, Spring wildflowers at Picacho Peak. File:Picacho Battle.jpg, Re-enactment of the Battle of Picacho Peak in March 2007. File:Memorial_Trail_Panel_Picacho_Peak_SP.jpg File:Picacho_Peak_North_of_Tucson_AZ_4-20-2013.JPG, Aerial view of Picacho Peak taken from a

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

on April 20, 2013. File:Sasco_La_Osa_Ranch_Picacho_Peak_Aricona_2014.jpg, Picacho Peak from the ghost town of

Sasco Sasco is a ghost town located in Pinal County, Arizona, west of Red Rock. Sasco, which is an acronym for the Southern Arizona Smelter Company, was a company town with a large smelter that served several mines. Once an impressive and little-known ...

References

External links

Picacho Peak State Park
{{authority control 1965 establishments in Arizona Parks in Pinal County, Arizona Protected areas established in 1965 Sonoran Desert State parks of Arizona American Civil War on the National Register of Historic Places Stagecoach stations on the National Register of Historic Places Conflict sites on National Register of Historic Places in Arizona Transportation buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona