AZ-Fort+Huachuca


 * =Birding in Arizona=

Cochise County
=Fort Huachuca and Garden Canyon= Sierra Vista, Arizona 85613 Birding at Fort Huachuca Garden Canyon map

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Tips for birding Fort Huachuca
Fort Huachuca is an active military installation and will suspend your driving privileges on Post for 30 days on your first offense for talking or using a cell phone while driving. You **must** use a hands-free device. Current entry requirements (subject to change without notice): US citizens should be prepared to show photo ID for everyone in the vehicle at the entrance, and possibly your vehicle registration and insurance as well. Foreign nationals must be accompanied by an approved military escort; contact the base (520.533.7111), or possibly the Sierra Vista Visitor's Bureau (520.417.6960) well in advance. From Tuscon Audubon Society

Fort Huachuca (permit required)
Coordinates: 31.5200639, -110.3466807 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Garden Canyon
Coordinates: 31.4596996, -110.3644028 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Garden Canyon Rd.--Fishing ponds
Coordinates: 31.5145325, -110.3292131 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Garden Canyon Rd.--grasslands only
Coordinates: 31.5061448, -110.3183153 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Garden Canyon--Lower Picnic Area
Coordinates: 31.4798154, -110.3373134 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Garden Canyon--Upper Picnic Area
Coordinates: 31.4727031, -110.3526698 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Huachuca Canyon
Coordinates: 31.5172708, -110.3887872 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Sawmill Canyon
Coordinates: 31.4521999, -110.3761978 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

Scheelite Canyon
Coordinates: 31.4596004, -110.3525009 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

About Fort Huachuca
One of Arizona’s largest military installations, Fort Huachuca was established in 1877 and continues as an active military post. The fort was the headquarters of the 4th Cavalry patrols that pursued Geronimo and his band of Chiricahua Apache and ultimately brought about their surrender in 1886. Fort Huachuca also served as the home of the famous “Buffalo Soldiers” who, among other exploits, chased Pancho Villa in 1916 following attacks on Columbus, New Mexico. Today, Fort Huachuca is an important military intelligence and communications center, and the expansive installation helps manage and protect important biological diversity on and adjacent to the Huachuca Mountains. Two museums and an annex trace the fort’s colorful history. Located within Fort Huachuca, Garden Canyon is sometimes called the most beautiful canyon in the Huachuca Mountains, and this scenic area contains some of the most diverse plant and animal life in the mountain range. This prominent desert landscape is bordered in several areas by creeks, ponds, forests, and waterfalls, with a wide variety of wildflowers, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects.

Wildlife to Watch: This portion of the Huachuca Mountains and San Pedro River Valley offers good opportunities to see white-tailed deer, pronghorn, javelina, coatimundi, black bear, and other mammals. Grasslands are prime habitat for Cassin's and Botteri's sparrows, which are best located while they are singing during July and August. Garden canyon and its associated side canyons are excellent places to observe the Montezuma quail, Gould’s turkey, acorn woodpecker, Mexican jay, elegant trogon, sulphur-bellied and buff-breasted flycatchers, painted redstart, and red-faced and Grace’s warbler. There is also a chance of seeing Mexican spotted owls. Common reptiles include the Yarrow’s and Clark’s spiny lizards, desert grassland whiptail, Sonoran spotted whiptail, Sonoran whipsnake, Sonoran mountain kingsnake, rock rattlesnake, and black-tailed rattlesnake. Wetlands on the fort support the Ramsey Canyon leopard frog and Sonoran tiger salamander. The fort provides varied habitats for a tremendous diversity of land snails, dragonflies, and other insects, including many endemic species. Garden Canyon is legendary among butterfly enthusiasts because of its biodiversity.

Special Tips: Fort Huachuca has traditionally been open to the public, but be aware that security concerns can suddenly change and tighten access requirements. Civilian visitors who are U.S. citizens must be prepared to provide photo identification, vehicle registration and/or car rental contract, and proof of insurance. Foreign nationals are allowed to visit only in the company of a U.S. citizen with a military identification card. Additionally, all or parts of the post may be closed to civilians for indefinite periods of time for reasons of public safety and/or national security. All visitors are subject to random inspections by military police.

Other Activities: A single-lane dirt road takes you to the top of Garden Canyon, where a short walk and a climb up boardwalk steps leads to a good view of prehistoric rock paintings. The Upper Picnic Area in Garden Canyon provides excellent birding, and trailheads to other canyon areas are found here. The rough, steep Scheelite Canyon Trail begins about .7 mile past the Upper Picnic Area and the steep, but more gentle Sawmill Canyon Trail at the end of Garden Canyon Road continues to climb through classic pine-oak woodland. The road to Garden Canyon is closed occasionally because of military maneuvers, and other canyons on the fort, including Huachuca and Blacktail, also offer excellent wildlife viewing opportunities. From Birding at Fort Huachuca



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