Discover an “Unreal Rock Wonderland” on Echo Canyon Trail in Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona. Incredible towering rocks dominate this landscape and surround you at every turn. Hidden caves and evidence of an ancient lava flow adds to the excitement of this jaw-dropping hike. Echo Canyon Trail is unlike anything our family had ever seen before. This trail is simply spectacular! And we highly recommend checking it out!
CHIRICAHUA NATIONAL MONUMENT:
Echo Canyon Trail
What You Need to Know Before You Go
Where is Chiricahua National Monument?
Chiricahua National Monument is located in the southeastern portion of Arizona. The nearest town is Wilcox, AZ which is approximately 40 min (35 miles) away. And just for reference, the nearest major city (Tucson) is almost 2 hours away (117 miles) to the west. This remoteness makes Chiricahua National Monument harder to visit for most people. But to me, the remoteness makes Chiricahua a fantastic place to visit and a great place to get away from the crowds!
I couldn’t believe how few people we saw on the way out to this spectacular site. We actually drove for 30 minutes straight and didn’t see a single car out on the road!
Travel Tip: Check your gas gauge and fill up your car before you head out! The closest gas stations are in Sunizona (27 miles southwest) and in Wilcox (37 miles northwest.)
Important Park Information
Chiricahua National Monument is Free to visit!
The Park is open 24/7, but the Visitor Center is only open from 8:30-4:30pm.
There are no restaurants at this park so bring your own food & drinks.
A Free Hiking Shuttle is available daily from September to May at the visitor center if needed.
Getting to the Echo Canyon Trailhead
Once you enter Chiricahua National Monument, you will be on the only road into and out of the park, Bonita Canyon Road.
Please note that vehicles longer than 24 feet are prohibited to go past the visitor center on this road because Bonita Canyon Scenic Drive is narrow and windy. (Up to 29′ is allowed at the campground.)
To get to Echo Canyon Trail, drive down Bonita Canyon Road for 7.5 miles (about 15 minutes). You will pass the visitor center on the way. If the visitor center is open, you can check out the short video about the park and see their exhibits on geology, natural history and archeology.
Personally, I recommend going straight to your trail first, if hiking in the morning, in order to beat the heat of the day. Then you can visit the visitor center afterwards in air conditioning when it’s really hot out.
Now We’re Ready to Hike!
Echo Canyon Trail Information
2 Options to Hike this Trail
1 mile out & back, Echo Canyon Parking lot to the Grottos (Echo Park) (easy)
3.3 miles to hike Echo Canyon Loop (moderate)
(Heart of Rocks & Inspiration Point Trails, shown below, are strenuous and not part of this hike)
Echo Canyon Trailhead begins at the Echo Canyon Parking Lot. Here you’ll find bathrooms, which is always good to have before you hike.
There are two ways to hike at Echo Canyon. One, you can hike just to the Echo Canyon Grottos and back for an easy 1 mile roundtrip hike. On the map above, this would be hiking to approximately where it says Echo Park on the Map and then hiking back to the parking lot.
Or you can hike the moderate 3.3 mile Echo Canyon Loop. This loop starts at the Echo Canyon Parking lot, passes Echo Park, turns left at Hailstone Trail (0.8 mile trail) and then turns left again at the Ed Riggs Trail (for 0.7 miles + 0.2 miles back to the parking lot.) The three trails are very well marked so don’t worry about getting lost. (But it’s good to remember these trail names to lessen any confusion when hiking this loop.)
Our family chose to hike the entire Echo Canyon Loop and we highly recommend it. It’s spectacular!
Which Direction to Hike Echo Canyon Loop
It was recommended to us to hike Echo Canyon Loop counterclockwise so that’s the direction we went. Hiking counterclockwise not only lets you visit the spectacular Grottos near the beginning of your hike, when you’re fresh, but it is also easier to walk back up the gentle grade of the Ed Rigg’s Trail than it would be to walk back up Echo Canyon.
Hiking Echo Canyon Loop
In less than 0.5 mile, on a fairly level trail, you will already be entering into the Echo Canyon’s Grottos! I couldn’t believe how fantastic the scenery was in such a short walk! There were incredible formations everywhere! So if you are not able to walk too far, or it’s too hot, just know that walking even a mile round trip will let you see some fantastic scenery!
Words can’t even begin to describe how amazing this place is. The rock formations here are so huge and so unique. I felt as if I had been transported into another world, a Dr. Seuss type of world, and the landscape was completely unreal!
A Very Fun Path
In addition to the breathtaking pillars, our family also loved how the trail itself uniquely winded around and between the rocks, creating fun passageways for us to explore. This portion of the trail was a lot of fun to hike and with every step we eagerly wondered what might lie just around the corner.
From the Grottos, the trail begins a steep decent, laced with switchbacks, that leads to the canyon floor. Stunning views were everywhere!
And just to give you an idea of how huge these rocks are, above is a picture of my husband and two of my boys on the trail next to these incredible rocks!
These rocks seriously impressed us!
So How Did These Incredible Rocks Formations Get Here?
27 million years ago there was an enormous volcanic eruption at Turkey Creek that sent a huge amount of ash and pumice into the air. This ash mixture subsequently fell back down to earth and hardened. Over time this rock layer has eroded to reveal the fantastic looking spires and pinnacles that we find here today.
Once you reach the end of Echo Park, the trail will level off. You will then make a sharp left turn onto Hailstone Trail.
The “Hailstone” Portion of Echo Canyon Loop
The Hailstone Trail portion of Echo Canyon Loop is fairly level, but it is hotter, dryer and there is not a lot of shade here. In this portion of the trail, our family definitely needed to drink a lot of water while we hiked. And although we were no longer hiking in amongst all of the fantastic rock formations, we still had a pretty amazing view of them from the trail as we hiked. (see below)
The “Ed Riggs” Portion of Echo Canyon Trail
At the end the Hailstone portion of Echo Canyon Loop, you will continue left onto the Ed Riggs portion of the Echo Canyon Loop Trail. This section of the trail gradually ascends back up to the mesa top. Here you will find more vegetation although shade is still hard to come by.
To me, this was probably the least scenic portion of the loop (or maybe I was just tired.) Most of the formations here had vegetation around them and they weren’t nearly as impressive as the ones near the Grotto. But we did find one really fun formation on this section that my kids absolutely loved. They thought it looked like E.T.! (I kind of thought it looked like a mummy but I liked the E.T. idea better.)
At the end of the Ed Riggs portion of the trail, there is just a short path back to the parking lot. This is clearly marked so you should have no trouble finding it.
Once you’re back to your car, make sure you take the short drive up to Massai Point for a fantastic view of the grottos that you just hiked through!
Echo Canyon Loop is a spectacular trail that our family is sure to remember forever. I mean who could forget walking among such unique pillars that tower over you everywhere you turn. So make sure you check out Chiricahua National Monument if you are anywhere near in southern Arizona. This is one drive & hike that you won’t regret!
Have a Great Hike with Your “Traveling Feet” at Chiricahua National Monument!
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2 comments
Best hiking anywhere in America! I am a little sorry you shared the secret. Most time when you are hiking you are hiking towards some sort of scenic things such as a rock formation, trees, or waterfall. At Chiricahua you are surrounded by trees and rock formations every step you take. Every step is a beautiful scenic view, that it is almost impossible to take a second step! You do not walk TO something but you are immersed in it!
I agree with how amazing the hiking is here. And I hate to share these secret spots, but Chiricahua was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Echo Canyon Trail just brings a smile to my face every time I think about it and I hope that it can do the same for others. Thank you for taking the time to reach out to me. Jenny