Chiricahua National Monument

Chiricahua National Monument, in southeastern Arizona, was established in 1924 to preserve a striking landscape of towering pinnacles, columns, and balanced rocks carved from a thick sequence of volcanic tuff by the forces of erosion. The 30-million-year-old rocks were deposited by explosive eruptions that showered a large area with ash and cinder. The 11,985-acre monument caps the summit of the Chiricahuas, a steep forested range rising abruptly from the dry, level grasslands to an altitude of 9,795 feet on Chiricahua Peak. The forests of oak, pine, and Douglas fir shelter a varied and unique wildlife.