Coronado National Memorial
Hiking in Coronado National Memorial | December 2023
We were in a bit of a rush to get to Tucson due to the prospect of going on a backpacking trip along a portion of the Arizona Trail with Mitch, Alex, and Henry – our friends in Tucson. Unfortunately, the trip had to be canceled due to an injury. Fortunately, that meant we missed having to spend the night in below-freezing temperatures on a mountain and hiking through snow.
But that left a big hole in our schedule and a desire to go hiking now that we were back in AZ. We tossed some ideas around, ranging from Nogales to just doing the backpacking trip anyway. But in the spirit of inclusivity we landed on going to one of the few National Park sites that Jess and I had yet to visit in Arizona: Coronado National Memorial.
After spending the night at Mitch’s home, we met up with everyone else bright and early on Saturday morning, piled into a truck, and drove the hour or so South to the border. Coronado National Memorial sits right on the border with Mexico just South of Miller Peak and commemorates the passage of Francisco Vazquez de Coronado’s expedition into New Spain and the heart of the great plains. Supposedly, the original intent was for there to be a reciprocal park/recreation area on the Mexican side of the border, a la Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, but the Southern side simply never came through.
After a brief stop at the visitor’s center for water and stretching, we drove up the canyon to Montezuma pass and were greeted with a cold wind and a large view to the West of the Harshaw and Patagonia Mountains and Sonora, Mexico. Supposedly, Montezuma pass was the location where Coronado entered into what is now known as the United States.
Mitch, Alex, Henri, and myself geared up for a hike to nearby Coronado Peak, while Jess stayed at the pass with Charlotte. The hike was short and followed the Arizona Trail, but easy enough and offered even more panoramic views to the South into Sonora. We guessed at where the end of the AZ Trail was and commented on the border wall. From here, Mitch returned to the pass to drive back down to the Visitor Center with Charlotte and Jess, while myself and the remaining two walked the two miles back through Joe’s Canyon.
It was an overall uneventful hike spent catching up with each other for the past two years. We passed by the spur trail to the border and the AZ Trail’s southern terminus, but decided against the extra elevation. I also wanted to save that trip for when I finally get to start (or finish) the Arizona Trail in its entirety. Fortunately, the trail was almost entirely downhill so we made good time and the weather was quite pleasant. Because we had hiked the entirety of the Joe’s Canyon Trail, I was eligible for the ‘I Hike for Health’ pin, a program launched in the 6 Southern Arizona National Park Sites and which all of our friends had already completed in their entirety. So naturally, I am quite behind in the Southern Arizona Hiking game. The pins looked very professional.
Content with our trip (though always willing to return – Coronado NM also has a cave, and of course the AZ Trail), we packed back into the truck and returned the way we came, stopping for lunch at a 50’s style diner in Sierra Vista, where we all ordered breakfast food.
