Chiricahua National Monument just became the country’s newest national park. With legislation cleared by the House of Representatives in March and the Senate on Sept. 30, President Donald Trump signed the bill into law on Oct. 20, creating the country’s 64th national park.
This hidden gem is among the smallest national parks, though it provides a diverse landscape, wildlife, dark starry nights and a glimpse of human history.
“It has spectacular vistas,” said Emily Burns, a program director at the Sky Island Alliance, which does conservation and restoration work in the region, including projects in Chiricahua. “It has a beautiful canyon and then these rock formations that are a little mind-boggling to understand how they formed over geologic history.”
What Visitors Will Find
Tucked in the southeast corner of Arizona, Chiricahua sits at the intersection of the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madre mountain range and the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts.
The nearest airport is in Tucson, nearly a two-hour drive away from the park’s only entrance.
Chiricahua was initially established as a national monument in 1924 to protect the “Wonderland of Rocks.” The striking balanced rocks, spires and pinnacles were formed by volcanic eruptions about 27 million years ago. The park offers hiking, camping at the Bonita Canyon Campground, horseback riding and scenic drives to absorb its geology.
Arizona Trail Association Executive Director Matthew Nelson described Chiricahua as a timeless place.
“I think being able to immerse yourself in a place that seems relatively unchanged over the millennia is just such a break from modern day technology and the pace of our lives,” Nelson said. “Being in the rocks in Chiricahua encourages people to just slow down and to listen to the wind, and to study the rock features, and to be reminded of the beauty that exists in nature.”
Its different elevations and habitat types are home to everything from black bears, gray foxes and javelina, to bats, hummingbirds and toads. Chiricahua is also a certified International Dark Sky Park, with its isolated geography protecting its pristine skies.
The area was inhabited by the Chiricahua Apache for centuries through different conflicts with European settlers until they were displaced to Florida and later moved to other states by the U.S. government. The Chiricahua National Park Act protects cultural and religious sites and preserve access to Native Tribes for customary uses, including temporary closures of the park.
Chiricahua is now the fourth smallest national park, at 12,000 acres, which is slightly smaller than Manhattan. For comparison, Grand Canyon, the largest park in Arizona, is about 1.2 million acres, or 100 times bigger. The largest national park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, located in Alaska, is 8.3 million acres, nearly 700 times bigger than Chiricahua, according to a USA TODAY analysis of National Park Service boundary data.
A Small Park With Big Crowds Ahead
Its small size also draws small crowds. In 2025, Chiricahua recorded 70,000 visits, which would have ranked it 57 out of 64, among the other national parks. The Great Smoky Mountains was the most popular national park in 2025, at 11.5 million visits. Grand Canyon, in the fourth spot, had 4.4 million visits.
Gaining national park status, however, is likely to bring more people. When the Arizona Trail, an 800-mile hike taking people from the Mexico border to the Utah border, was designated by Congress as one of 11 national scenic trails in the country, Nelson saw interest and visitations increase — something he also expects for Chiricahua.
“Chiricahua has all of the natural wonders that make it worthy of being a national park. There is no question about that,” Nelson said. “It’s got everything within the natural and cultural resource realm to be a national park, but it does not have the infrastructure.”
As examples, Nelson pointed to the self-serve visitor center, limited camping spots and no staff to collect fees. The park generates millions of dollars in spending in gateway towns. The redesignation could further boost the regional economy, though some community members were skeptical of the proposal when conversations started years ago.
“Certainly as visitation goes up, the National Park Service will need resources to not just make sure that they can provide the amenities, like trails and bathrooms and campsites that visitors need, but they will need natural resource investment as well to make sure that we’re taking care of the natural landscape and the cultural history,” Burns said.
Funding Questions Remain
Since Trump took office for a second time, the National Park Service has lost about a quarter of its workforce, according to the National Park Conservation Association, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the parks.
Earlier this year, the administration downgraded planned maintenance projects across many of the park units to low-priority as the White House focused on repairing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool among other projects, the Associated Press reported in August.
The affected projects included some at Chiricahua, like replacing security cameras and electrical components on historic buildings that haven’t been changed since the 1980s, according to the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation and advocacy organization.
“Whether named a monument, a park, or a memorial, these places need funding restored and staffing numbers that can protect resources and give visitors the experience they deserve,” Christina Hazard, the National Park Conservation Association’s legislative director, said in an email statement. “The effort to rename Chiricahua shows just how much people care about these places and that it’s our national parks that unite us.”
Days before Trump signed the bill, the National Park Service declined to provide information on whether the Department of Interior would provide additional funding or staffing to Chiricahua if it gains national park status, saying the agency “does not comment on legislation until it becomes law.” On Oct. 21, the DOI referred USA TODAY to a press release that does not mention funding.
The last time a park gained national park status was in 2021, when New River Gorge in West Virginia was redesignated from a national river to a national park and preserve.
Planning a Visit
Chiricahua has limited cell service and gas stations, but with some planning, visitors can make the most of their experience.
Burns’ advice for someone looking to visit: hike slowly. It “may be a small park, but there is so much crammed into it. So hike slowly, sit and watch the views, and get to know it,” Burns said.
Reporting by Ignacio Calderón and Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
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