The Chiricahua Mountains in southeast Arizona are a location of the remains of an immense volcanic eruption that shook the area during the late Paleogene period during the Oligocene epoch some 25-30 million years ago.

During that eruption, thick, white-hot ash and pumice spewed forth from the Turkey Creek Caldera. When the volcanic material cooled and hardened, it formed a rhyolitic tuff about 2,000 feet in depth. The tuff deposited in this area is a highly siliceous, dark volcanic material. Over the next thirty million years, this hardened volcanic tuff material eroded into the natural rock formations including the extensive hoodoos and balancing rocks that we see today in the Chiricahua mountain.

The Chiricahua mountains rise dramatically from the valley floor reaching over nine thousand feet and crests in a series of uneven, volcanic looking peaks. At the northern end of the Chiricahua mountains there is an extraordinary area of striking geological features and enormous biodiversity.

Concealed deep into these steep, forested valleys and beneath the craggy peaks are the remains of a violent geological past, one which continued for many millions of years. It is here where there are found the pinnacles, columns, spires and balanced rocks of the Chiricahua.

Millions of years past, the bedrock here was uplifted to form the Chiricahua mountains and as they grew gradually, the rock layers were tilted slightly westward, a process which created vertical cracks (called joints) in the uplifted bedrock.

Then during the next million or so years, rain water has been seeping into the cracks, dissolving minerals and washing away the soft portions of the bedrock. Also, water in the rock cracks freeze during the winter and expand the cracks as does plant roots growing in the same cracks. This slow wearing away of the softer rock leaves the harder rock to stand out in relief and has resulted in the many types of formations and unusual shapes.

What will happen in the next million years. Erosion of ice, plants, rain, temperature and wind will not doubt continue making changes to the area. However, as today′s rock formations weather away, other new ones will be exposed to replace the previous ones.

The bedrock is a thick layer of rhyolite, which is of volcanic origin and is a dense, fine grained rock with a high silicon dioxide content. ¹

The Chiricahua Montains are located in the southeast area of Arizona, the Chiricahua are in the Basin and Range geographical region and are in the Madrean Archipelago Ecoregion, contisting of Sky Islands atop mountain ranges surrounded by the low valleys of the Chihuahuan deserts.

The Apaches called this place The Land of Standing-Up Rocks, and this has been a fitting name for the canyons which contain the largest collection of extraordinary rock towers.

Bonita Canyon

Here in the southeast corner of Arizona is located one of several sky island mountain ranges surrounded by expansive desert grasslands. These sky islands, known as the Chiricahua Mountains are an inactive volcanic range forty miles long by twenty miles wide and which forms on part of the several sky islands in the ecoregion.

Chiricahua National Monument

As I have always believed, photos, despite how good the photographer is, despite how good the cropper and editor are, despite how good the story and presentation is, will always fall short of actually going to the subject and seeing it for yourself.

This national monument is one of the few that I personally have given the special place as one of the Earth′s Geological Wonder and will remain as a must see destination.

Furthermore, this park is located within the Chihuahaun desert making my visit a must needs winter one.

Up long after sunrise and go into the d-mart to purchase a new toothbrush. Then I drive to a w-mart and upload my latest journal entry. Driving by ten am and cross the entire state of New Mexico not stoping until arriving in Arizona at Chiricahua National Monument, and check for a camping space but find none available.

I then tour the park and find the most amazing land of standing up rocks, a place where Solitude, Simplicity and Solace come together to reign supreme. Methinks that I must needs return again to this park, especially when time is not an issue, so as to be able to walk the many back country trails to take steps with Solitude once again.

The slender pinnacle in the middle of the above photograph is called the Totem Pole. It stands 137 feet tall and is only three feet in diameter near its base.

From Massia Point, it is 6.5 miles round trip walk to The Heart of Rocks which is considered the location with the most spectacularly carved individual rocks.

The rhyolite rocks are covered in a multicolored hodge podge of a variety of lichens and other growth. The yellow coloring is Xznthoria parietia, a foliose or leafy lichen. The other colors are other species belonging to the Fungi Kingdom.

When a lichen is wetted by rain or morning dew, it quickly imbibes water like blotting paper, and photosynthesis within its little algal partner is revived for a while. Since lichens are among the first plants to grow on bare rock, they play a role in soil formation by slowly etching the rock surface.