Evergreens thrive in the Huachuca Mountains, near Sierra Vista, in a view from the Crest Trail. This hiking route, which begins at Coronado National Memorial, doubles as a portion of the Arizona Trail.
Laurence Parent
A placid pool mirrors cliffs illuminated by late-afternoon light in the Pajarita Wilderness, along the U.S.-Mexico border west of Nogales. More than 660 plant species, including a handful found nowhere else on Earth, grow in this 7,500-acre wilderness area.
Jonathan Buford
Sandhill cranes gather beneath a colorful sky at the Twin Lakes, small reservoirs near Willcox. Numerous bird species migrate through the Willcox area, but the most famous are the cranes, which roost there from early October to early March.
Jack Dykinga
A resplendent yucca bathes in evening light in the rocky Dragoon Mountains, northeast of Tombstone. Famed as the final resting place of the Apache leader and warrior Cochise, the Dragoons can be explored via Middlemarch Road, a relatively well-maintained dirt road through the range.
Joel Hazelton
The setting sun illuminates tall cottonwoods and other plants at San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, between Sierra Vista and Bisbee. This Bureau of Land Management site protects some 40 miles of the San Pedro River.
Jack Dykinga
A secluded stream forms a small pool during the summer monsoon in the Santa Rita Mountains’ Madera Canyon. Renowned for its birding opportunities, Madera Canyon attracts some 250 bird species, mostly during spring, late summer and early fall.
Norma Jean Gargasz
Globes of pepperweed bloom on the sand dunes of Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, southeast of Yuma. This remote refuge, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, protects more than 850,000 acres of diverse Sonoran Desert habitat.
Paul Gill
Granite formations fill the landscape in Texas Canyon, just off Interstate 10 between Benson and Willcox. Long off-limits to visitors, the canyon now is home to the Amerind Foundation’s Texas Canyon Nature Preserve, which features 6 miles of new hiking trails.
Jeff Maltzman
Healthy agaves and pink wildflowers mark a sunset view of Southern Arizona from the Miller Peak Wilderness. According to the book Arizona Place Names, Miller Peak, the highest point in the Huachuca Mountains, derives its name from a sawmill once located in the range.
Joel Hazelton
Oaks, junipers and ocotillos populate the rolling foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains, southeast of Tucson, the morning after a heavy monsoon storm. Home to biodiverse Madera Canyon and a Smithsonian Institution observatory, the Santa Ritas are one of Southern Arizona’s many “sky island” ranges.