America's 64th National Park: Arizona's Chiricahua Redesignated, the 'Wonderland of Rocks' Joins the System
Chiricahua National Monument in Cochise County, southeastern Arizona, has officially been redesignated as Chiricahua National Park. The Department of the Interior announced on October 20 that President Donald J. Trump had signed the Chiricahua National Park Act into law that day, making the stone-spire landscape known as the 'Wonderland of Rocks' the 64th national park in the United States and Arizona's fourth, after the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest and Saguaro.
'Chiricahua's towering rock spires, rich Apache heritage and remarkable biodiversity make it one of America's most extraordinary landscapes,' Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in the announcement. 'This new designation will shine a national spotlight on one of Arizona's hidden gems, creating opportunities to welcome more visitors, strengthen local economies and share this incredible landscape with more Americans.' Jessica Bowron, the National Park Service comptroller exercising the delegated authority of the director, said Chiricahua has been part of the National Park System for more than a century and that the new designation marks an exciting chapter: 'While its name is changing, our commitment remains the same: protecting this remarkable landscape and its cultural heritage while providing opportunities for visitors to experience and enjoy it for generations to come.'
Chiricahua protects about 12,000 acres on a 'sky island' of the Chiricahua Mountains, about 120 miles from Tucson. Its rhyolite rock spires and balanced rocks were formed by an ancient volcanic eruption roughly 27 million years ago. The park sits at the meeting point of four major ecosystems — the Sonoran Desert, the Chihuahuan Desert, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Madre — a crossroads that supports remarkable biodiversity, including, according to Smithsonian Magazine, nearly 200 species of birds. Hiking, wildlife viewing, birding and stargazing are the signature visitor experiences.
The land preserves thousands of years of human history: it is the homeland of the Chiricahua Apache and holds the legacy of early homesteading families at Faraway Ranch. Chiricahua was first protected as a national monument in 1924 under President Calvin Coolidge. The redesignation bill was introduced in 2023 by Representative Juan Ciscomani of Arizona and signed into law on October 20. Chiricahua is the country's first new national park in six years, following West Virginia's New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in 2020. The name Chiricahua is pronounced 'cheery-cow-uh.'
The Interior Department said the redesignation recognizes the national significance of the area's natural and cultural resources. The National Park Service will continue to manage and protect the park; what changes first is the name — and the national spotlight that comes with it.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：自 Massai Point 眺望 Chiricahua 国家公园的流纹岩石林（资料图，Krzysztof Ziarnek／Kenraiz 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons）。Photo: Rhyolite formations of Chiricahua National Park viewed from Massai Point (file photo by Krzysztof Ziarnek / Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons).
