An Intro to Southeastern Arizona

History, Nature and Wide-Open Spaces Greet Visitors to the Desert

Mar 7, 2008 Kat Long

A visitor's guide to Southeastern Arizona, celebrating the region's fascinating folklore, Native American history, geological wonders and desert life.

Arizona may officially be the Grand Canyon State, but that national park in the northwest corner of the state is by no means the only reason to visit in search of the Wild West. In fact, many of the most familiar images of the American Southwest—towering cacti, cowboys and ranchers, and Spanish-American heritage—are found in Arizona’s southeastern region.

In and Around Tucson

Tucson, the region’s largest city with more than a half-million people, is the gateway to southeastern Arizona (encompassed primarily by Cochise County). The city is flanked by the east and west portions of Saguaro National Park and the iconic, towering cacti can be seen everywhere—even planted in traffic islands and golf courses. Visitors can expect an extremely dry climate which results in dazzling sunshine and comfortable temperatures year-round at the region’s high desert elevation. Even in winter, daytime temps rarely dip below 60 degrees Fahrenheit, though at night, the desert loses the sun’s warmth quickly and temperatures can drop 30 degrees. In the mountain ranges scattered throughout Cochise County, known as “sky islands,” weather is wetter and cooler but still quite arid during the year.

Interstate 10 is the main east-west highway in southeastern Arizona, which runs through Tucson east toward the towns of Vail, Benson, and Willcox. Scenic U.S. 82 begins in Vail and heads south through canyons and wildlife preserves to Nogales, on the border with Mexico. Smaller U.S. 191 departs Interstate 10 between Benson and Willcox and goes south through scruffy desert grasslands dotted with yuccas, mesquite trees and creosote bushes, terminating at Douglas, the border town adjacent to Agua Prieta, Mexico.

Desert Life and Industry

Cochise County’s 6,219-square-mile expanse of desert and mountains boasts the icons of the American Southwest, from pristine natural beauty and wildlife, to old mining towns and cattle ranches, to Native American heritage and incredible Mexican food at friendly roadside cafes.

On first glance, the desert may seem barren—but this region teems with nature. Statuesque saguaros, chubby barrel cactus and fuzzy chollo blanket the desert surrounding Tucson, while dazzling balanced-rock formations in Texas Canyon and the Chiricahua National Monument defy belief. Birdwatchers flock to Wings Over Willcox each January, a festival featuring birds of prey, migrating Sandhill Cranes and hundreds of other species. Even a casual drive on one of the county’s primitive roads stirs up ravens, red-tailed hawks and Gambel’s quails. Jackrabbits, antelope, coyote and javelinas, a wild pig native to the Sonoran desert, emerge at sunset. Beginning in April, the hibernating desert comes to life with millions of scarlet California poppies, while the white blooms of the Saguaro, Arizona’s state flower, burst forth in May and June.

Precious metals like gold, silver, and copper were mined in Southeastern Arizona beginning in the 1870s, and several well-preserved towns attest to the riches once found underground. Bisbee is a gem-colored hamlet that was once “queen of the copper camps” and is now an amazing example of living history. Nearby Tombstone is more famous for its shootout at the O.K. Corral than its silver-mining past. Smaller settlements, scattered through the county, couldn’t overcome the twentieth century’s decline in mining and are now ghost towns. Today, cattle, sheep, and horse ranching have replaced mining as the region’s main industry, and it is common to see real-life cowboys in spurs and Stetsons minding the livestock.

Southeastern Arizona may be off the beaten path, but for visitors interested in witnessing the desert way of life, it’s not to be missed.

The copyright of the article An Intro to Southeastern Arizona in SW U.S./Hawaii Travel is owned by Kat Long. Permission to republish An Intro to Southeastern Arizona in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.