On paper, the northern end of our state has a lot going for it: Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, Canyon de Chelly. The southern end isn’t punctuated with household names, but there’s no shortage of natural beauty down there. Although most people head south in the winter, we suggest a summer trip.
A Portfolio Edited by Jeff Kida and Keith Whitney
Photograph by Jeff Maltzman
Gurinder Singh
Delicate wildflowers surround an alligator juniper in Gardner Canyon, which is on the east side of the Santa Rita Mountains. The canyon, named for a family that homesteaded there in the 1870s, can be explored via Gardner Canyon Road (Forest Road 92), which begins at State Route 83 just north of Sonoita.
NIKON D800, 1/10 SEC, F/22, ISO 100, 34 MM LENS
Joel Hazelton
Multicolored blooms cover the southern slopes of the Huachuca Mountains in the Miller Peak Wilderness, south of Sierra Vista. This 20,251-acre wilderness area is known for its biodiversity; in particular, more than 170 bird species have been spotted there.
CANON EOS 6D, 3.2 SEC, F/18, ISO 200, 16 MM LENS
Jeff Maltzman
Leafy ocotillos thrive beneath Baboquivari Peak, a distinctive landmark near Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. The 7,737-foot peak,
sacred to the Tohono O’odham people, is protected by a 2,040-acre wilderness area, the smallest in Arizona.
CANON EOS R5, 1/100 SEC, F/16, ISO 400, 100 MM LENS
Jack Dykinga
After a period of heavy rainfall, a “superbloom” of summer poppies blankets a hillside in the Tumacacori Highlands, a region just west of Nogales. This area is marked by sharp ridges, steep slopes and an overall feeling of remoteness.
ARCA-SWISS F-FIELD C 4X5, FUJICHROME VELVIA, 3 SEC, F/32, ISO 50, 80 MM LENS
Eirini Pajak
Riparian vegetation grows on the shores of a small reservoir in Ruby, a ghost town west of Nogales. Ruby dates to the 1870s and once was one of Arizona’s most productive mining towns; these days, numerous buildings remain at the site, which unfortunately is no longer open to the public.
CANON EOS 5D MARK III, 1/125 SEC, F/11, ISO 100, 15 MM LENS
Norma Jean Gargasz
Tender new growth contrasts with the red bark of a manzanita during a monsoon storm in the Santa Rita Mountains. The Santa Ritas are one of Southern Arizona’s “sky island” ranges, and attractions there include Madera Canyon and the Mount Wrightson Wilderness.
NIKON D850, 1/100 SEC, F/4, ISO 250, 50 MM LENS
Paul Gill
Sotol stalks reach skyward along the road into the Huachuca Mountains’ Garden Canyon. This canyon is part of Fort Huachuca, a U.S. Army installation near Sierra Vista, but is open to the public.
CANON EOS 5D, 1/30 SEC, F/22, ISO 400, 24 MM LENS
Jeff Maltzman
Lichen-stained hoodoos congregate at Chiricahua National Monument in Southeastern Arizona. These rhyolite pillars are the result of hundreds of thousands of years of frost wedging, in which water repeatedly freezes and thaws, gradually widening cracks in the rock.
CANON EOS 5D MARK IV, 1/4 SEC, F/18, ISO 400, 35 MM LENS
Gurinder Singh
Mature cottonwood trees grow along Cienega Creek at Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. This preserve, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, features verdant riparian areas and the remnants of historic cattle ranches.
NIKON D800, 1/30 SEC, F/22, ISO 320, 85 MM LENS
Jeff Maltzman
A distant monsoon storm drops heavy rain in a view from the San Rafael Valley. The Santa Cruz River, a key waterway in the region, begins in this valley and flows into Mexico before turning north and re-entering the U.S. near Nogales.
CANON EOS R5, 1/8 SEC, F/16, ISO 100, 24 MM LENS
Jeff Maltzman
Monsoon clouds gather over a sprawling grassland in the San Rafael Valley, southeast of Patagonia. The valley is bounded by the Patagonia and Huachuca mountains and the Canelo Hills.
CANON EOS R5, 1/60 SEC, F/14, ISO 100, 70 MM LENS
