CORONADO NATIONAL FOREST

There is magic in the words “southern Arizona.” Magic that draws thousands of human beings each winter from their workaday homes in the U. S. A. and even from other countries.

Much of the magic is in the mild winter climate, the smiling skies, the opportunity to “rough it” on ranches in the sunny valleys or the craggy mountains, and the feeling of freedom that comes with space stretching out to limitless horizons.

That is where the Coronado National Forest makes one of its important contributions to Arizona. For visitors who want to “go places and do things,” the Forest has attractions without number in its 1,442,000 acres. In the cowboy's idiom, you could say these attractions stretch out “from hell to breakfast,” which in this case means from the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson to the Mexican border on the south, and from the Tumacacori mountains on the west to the Peloncillos on the New Mexico line. The wide acres even cross the line to include part of the Animas Range.

Recreationists could think of this million-plus acres of national forest land as a vast “dude ranch,” but that would be true only in a limited sense. The “ranch” has its scenic beauties and offers endless opportunities for outdoor fun, but it is a “working ranch.” It has jobs to do, in producing yields of water for farm crops, forage for large herds of livestock, and timber for a growing region.

Man has measured this land in terms of rich resources since that gallant don, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, explored it in the name of the King of Spain in 1540. This Spanish nobleman and soldier, for whom the national forest is named, led a large force of cavalry and foot soldiers through this area on his luckless journey from Mexico City in quest of the “Seven Cities of Cibola.” He followed the San Pedro River to the Gila River, worked north to the sources of the Little Colorado River in what is now the Apache National Forest, and continued into the Land of Cibola, the Pueblo Indian country of New Mexico. There was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; the “cities” rumored rich with gold and paved with turquoise were only modest tiers of adobe houses. Coronado retraced his hard-won steps, broken-hearted, but the natives of Cibola and what is now southern Arizona continued to use what they knew was the real wealth of the area the water and the fruitful soil.

The men of the Cross perceived this. When Padre Kino, destined to fame as a shepherd of souls and builder of missions, came up from the Mexican province of Sonora about 1692 and preached to the tribes along the Santa Cruz, San Pedro and Gila rivers, he brought them new varities of grain and vegetables and helped them raise cattle, sheep and horses. Padre Kino knew this soil needed but the touch of water to make it bloom.

This truth was there for all to see, and white settlers came with their seeds and plows, their herds and their hopes. Eventually the urgent need for protecting the source of the precious streams and the underground flow led to creation of “forest reserves” in 1902 embracing the Santa Catalina, Chiricahua and Santa Rita mountain ranges. Today the Coronado National Forest includes these ranges and many others in its nine units the Whetstone mountains, the Dragoons, the The Coronado National Forest includes ten mountain ranges, whose ridges overlook the desert and foothill country. Highest peak is Mt. Lemmon.

Tumacacoris, the Patagonias, the Huachucas, the Peloncillos and the Animas. The national forest contains the headwaters of the Santa Cruz, San Pedro, Whitewater and San Simon rivers and valleys and the Sulphur Springs and Animas valleys, all of them important agricultural and livestock areas.

Although you would not expect much timber in this arid country, the heavier rainfall occurring on mountain slopes has created forests of sawtimber quality on nearly 100,000 acres. Another 600,000 acres is in woodland area, producing piñon and juniper. The rest of the Forest area is in brush and grass, valuable for grazing, and in barren areas, many of them inaccessible. The sawtimber and woodland areas produced nearly 1,500,000 feet of lumber and other wood products (poles, fence posts and cordwood) in 1945. Demands for these products are increasing year by year, and the harvest grows accordingly, but it is still well within the potential production that good forestry will permit.

The range lands of this Forest produced forage for 33,000 cattle in 1945, under grazing permits issued for nominal fees to encourage the livestock industry.

But mountains are made for other things than water-yield and grazing and logging. Mountains are for human beings to enjoy, too. When the winter visitors have gone from southern Arizona and Old Sol begins to bear down, the nine ranges of mountains and hills that jut up into the cooler elevations take on a new importance for yeararound inhabitants. For them the Catalinas and all the other ranges become retreats of health-saving coolness and relaxation.

In an average year, 150,000 people go on outings in the Coronado National Forest. The numbers keep growing, in this age of the shorter work week and the far-reaching automobile.

The most popular recreation areas on the Forest are in the Santa Catalinas, the Chiricahuas and the Santa Ritas.

In the Catalinas, it is possible in an hour's drive to go from cactus country to fir and spruce stands on the mountain top, where the elevation is 9,000 ft. The highest peak is Mt. Lemmon, 9,180 ft.

At the lower edge of this range, 15 miles from Tucson, the Forest Service has developed Sabino Canyon picnic area, the most popular in this national forest. Road crossings on the stream have formed picturesque pools, mirroring the sycamores, mesquite and palo verde trees that give shade for picnic facilities along the stream banks. Giant Saguaro and other cacti dot the sides of the canyon. A large pool is popular for swimming and fishing. The area is used also for overnight camping, with special provision made for trailers.

A monumental highway project, pushed for years by the Forest Service and cooperating agencies, has created a modern highway with easy grades to the top of the Catalinas. Built partly with labor from a Federal prison camp and costing $1,000,000, so far.

The highway is now open to public use as far as Palisades Ranger Station. From there, an old forest road leads to Summerhaven, a summer resort colony on private land. On the way up the mountain-side, there are fine views of Tucson, the Santa Cruz Valley, the steep canyons and cliffs of the south slope, and the distant Tumacacori and Santa Rita mountains. From San Pedro Vista at the top, the view covers not only these points, but points on the north slope-San Pedro Valley, the Graham mountains near Safford, the Pinals near Globe, and other mountains 40 or 50 miles away. Even finer views can be had from the fire lookout towers at Mt. Lemmon and Mt. Bigelow during fire season. The lookout men welcome visitors.

Accessible from the highway are four Forest campgrounds-Bear Wallow, Soldier Camp, Middle Sabino and Marshall Gulch. Visitors used unimproved areas for "throw-down" picnic and camp sites. The Forest Service has plans for additional campground improvements to be installed as funds become available.

From Soldier Camp, a Forest Service trail leads three miles to Butterfly Peak Natural Area, covering 1,000 acres and containing one of the largest varieties of trees and shrubs to be found in any one place in the Southwest.

"From Saguaros to ski slopes" could be the motto of skiers using the winter sports area at Bear Wallow. Here, with cooperation of the Forest Service, the Saguaro Ski Club of Tucson is planning improvements including ski trails, a portable ski tow and a practice slope, for use in the winter of 1946.

Also in the Rincons, but in the Coronado National Forest, is the Chiminea Canyon Natural Area, one mile north of Rincon Ranger Station. Although small, it contains representative samples of the vegetation characteristic of Southern Arizona desert.

The Chiricahua Mountains, north of Douglas, rise to nearly 10,000 feet above sea level. Chiricahua Peak reaches 9,796 ft. A road crossing the range reaches near the top, and a side road leads to a Forest campground at Rustler Park.

Covering 18,000 acres on and near the summit is the Chiricahua Wild Area, a rough and primitive area that only experienced outdoorsmen should attempt to explore. Its timber includes Arizona pine and Chiricahua pine, peculiar to this region, in addition to fir and spruce. Wildlife is numerous, especially in the 5,000-acre game refuge. Wild turkeys, once extinct on the Coronado forest, were successfully re-introduced in the wild area in recent years.

Also in the Chiricahua mountains is the Pole Bridge Canyon Natural Area, set aside to perpetuate rare species of trees, the Apache pine, Arizona pine and Chiricahua pine, which have a very restricted range in the United States. This area can be reached by road from Sulphur Spring Valley, or by a two-mile trail from Morse Canyon.

The Coronado National Forest is administered by the Forest Supervisor, with headquarters in the Federal Building at Tucson. Ranger districts, containing an average of 200,000 acres, are each in charge of a Forest Ranger. The districts and locations of the ranger stations are: Catalina district, Tucson; Douglas district, Douglas; Huachuca district, Elgin; Paradise district, Portal; Santa Rita district, Patagonia; and Tumacacori district, Nogales. A Forest Ranger knows his district like the palm of his hand. He'll be glad to tell you about roads and points of interest. "The latchstring is always out" at the Supervisor's office and the ranger stations.