I visited the newest US national park. Here's what it was like, as someone who's now visited all 64 of them.

Located in the distant southeastern border of Arizona, Chiricahua National Park is concerning 120 miles southeast of Tucson.

Because of its distant location, travelers need to attain by car, either on a highway trip or in a rental car following flying into Tucson, Arizona. I chose the latter.

Long before it became a national monument, the area was residence to the Chiricahua Apache, who called its striking formations "The Land of Standing-Up Rocks."

In the delayed 1800s, Swedish immigrants Neil and Emma Erickson settled in Bonita Canyon. Their daughter, Lillian, helped rotate the family property, Faraway Ranch, into a visitant ranch before expanding the procedure alongside her husband, Ed Riggs.

They welcomed visitors who wanted to examine the different rock formations, assisting current additional group to the area and subsequently advocating to defend the landscape, which eventually became Chiricahua National Monument in 1924.

And now? It's the newest important US national park.

One of the archetypal things that stood out to me concerning Chiricahua was how distinct the cognition of visiting felt. Unlike several of the country's most famous national parks, there were no entrance lines, traffic backups, or crowds competing for parking.

The park is liberated to act and comparatively small — the fourth-smallest national park by district area at 12,025 acres — making it imaginable to see fairly a bit in a sole day.

Of course, that could alter as the new heading brings additional notice to this border of Arizona.

I didn't really cognize what to anticipate from Chiricahua before visiting, but I quickly realized the landscape was dissimilar that of any another park I had visited.

As the towering rhyolite rock pinnacles came into perspective — equal under the dawn haze shield — I was immediately in awe. The measure of the formations is difficult to describe, or equal obtain in from the car.

After hiking downward among them, I was equal additional impressed. Some of the formations reminded me of the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon National Park, but the color, shapes, and sheer density of the rock towers made Chiricahua awareness entirely its own.

Although I certainly propose visiting Chiricahua National Park, there are a few things to keep in intellect before you go.

For example, although the park has been a national monument for complete 100 years, it hasn't seen elevated visitation, alongside fair 70,406 group entering the park in 2025. For perspective, the top 10 most-visited national parks all have annual visitation numbers complete 3 million.

Due to this, the infrastructure, akin parking lots, is smaller and could rotate into additional crowded now because of the park's new status.

Plus, since of its smaller size and additional distant location, it doesn't have the services or amenities a visitant power be used to. Unlike in several of the additional famous parks, you won't discover a lengthy catalog of restaurants, accommodation options, fuel, or visitant services nearby.

So, I propose preparedness onward and bringing snacks, particularly if you're visiting for additional than a day.