Coronado National Memorial commemorates the Coronado Expedition of 1540-1542 and its lasting impacts on the culture of northwest Mexico and the southwestern United States.
Coronado National Memorial
Contents
This 16th-century Spanish colonial exploration of the Americas had a major impact on the cultural influences found through Arizona.
The park is a great combination of history and scenic beauty! You can learn about the Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's expedition in the visitor center, enjoy an amazing scenic drive up Montezuma Pass to see epic views of the San Pedro River Valley and San Rafael Valley, enjoy bird watching, or take a hike.
Visitor Center
The park visitor center has an amazing garden of native plants and flowers. It is truly gorgeous!
Outside of the visitor center, there are wonderful interpretive panels that explain the Coronado Expedition of 1540-1542 along with information on the park being on the border of Mexico and the United States.
We did not have a chance to visit inside of the visitor center due to it being closed while we were there.
We were sad to miss the hands-on display of 16th-century clothing and armor that visitors can try on.
Picnic Area
There is a fantastic picnic area across the road from the visitor center. There are 25 picnic spots available within the picnic areas.
This is a great place to relax in the shade and watch for birds and wildlife.
Montezuma Pass
A dirt road travels to the top of Montezuma Pass. The scenic overlook sits at 6,575 feet above sea level and offers an amazing view over Texas and into Mexico.
Montezuma Pass is also the trailhead for the southern terminus of the great Arizona Trail.
The road is windy! If you have anyone who gets car sick you will want to be prepared. Please be careful on this dirt road with tight corners.
Hiking Trails
One really cool option for exploring the miles of the trails in the park is to take the hikers shutter to the top of Montezuma Pass and hike the 3-miles back down to the visitor center.
The park has a variety of terrain that showcases the American Southwest. You can hike through pinon, juniper pine forest, and oak woodlands.
Please make sure you are prepared with the ten essentials and have plenty of water with you.
You can earn an I Hike for Health pin to celebrate hiking in Coronado. To qualify you will need to hike a minimum of 3 miles in the park.
You will need to take a photo or selfie on each trail hiked and show it to the rangers at the visitor center. Make sure to record your hikes using a hiking log.
Coronado Cave
The Coronado Cave trail is a 1-mile round trip and is considered a moderate hike with a 500-foot elevation change.
The trailhead is a quarter-mile from the visitor center.
See the Coronado Cave page for more about the cave.
Arizona National Scenic Trail
Joe's Canyon Trail and the Coronado Peak Trail are both parts of the Arizona National Scenic Trail. This trail is part of the National Trails System and is classified as a National Recreation Trail.
Yaqui Ridge and Crest Trails are part of the larger Arizona National Scenic Trail (AZT) which stretches nearly 800 miles from the Arizona-Mexico border at Coronado National Memorial to the Arizona-Utah border.
Bird Watching
Coronado is a bird watcher's paradise! The park gets a wide variety of birds and offers a great opportunity to see new to you birds.
A bird checklist (pdf 600KB) is available to help identify many of the different species in the park.
Things to know when planning a visit to Coronado National Memorial
One thing to know about the park is it is along the international border with Mexico. It is not uncommon to see both Park Ranger trucks and Border Patrol trucks in the park.
Park Address: 4101 E Montezuma Canyon Road, Hereford, AZ 85615
From the city of Sierra Vista continue south on Hwy 92 about 20 miles and turn right onto S. Coronado Memorial Drive. Follow Coronado Memorial Drive (it will turn into E Montezuma Canyon Rd) 5 miles to the Visitor Center.
Park Hour: Coronado National Memorial is a day-use park. The trails, picnic area, waysides, and Montezuma Pass overlook are open each day from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.
Entrance Fee: $0.00, The is no fee to visit this park
WiFi: No public WiFi is currently available.
Cell Service: We had intermittent service with T-mobile in the park.
National Park Sites near Coronado National Memorial
Tumacacori National Historical Park
Fort Bowie National Historic Site
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Saguaro National Park
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Check out all of the Arizona National Parks you can visit. Don't miss the amazing parks in neighboring New Mexico National Parks and National Parks in California.
Leave a Reply