Tucson Parks by Radius

National Park Service

Bandelier National Monument
Best known for mesas, sheer-walled canyons, and the ancestral Pueblo dwellings found among them, Bandelier also includes over 23,000 acres of designated Wilderness.

Canyon De Chelly National Monument
At the base of sheer red cliffs and in canyon wall caves are ruins of Indian villages built between AD 350 and 1300. Canyon de Chelly National Monument offers visitors the chance to learn about Southwestern Indian history from the earliest basketmakers to the Navajo Indians who live and farm here.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Casa Grande Ruins, in Arizona, the nation's first archeological preserve, protects the Casa Grande and other archeological sites within its boundaries.

Chaco Culture National Historical Park
Chaco Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture between AD 850 and 1250. It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area. The Chacoan cultural sites are fragile and irreplaceable and represent a significant part of America's cultural heritage. The sites are part of the sacred homeland of Pueblo Indian peoples of New Mexico, the Hopi Indians of Arizona, and the Navajo Indians of the Southwest..

Chamizal National Memorial
The Chamizal Convention was a milestone in diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States in 1963.

Chiricahua National Monument
Twenty seven million years ago a volcanic eruption of immense proportions shook the land around Chiricahua National Monument. The Turkey Creek Caldera eruption eventually laid down two thousand feet of highly silicious ash and pumice. This mixture fused into a rock called rhyolitic tuff and eventually eroded into the spires and unusual rock formations of today. Chiricahua plants and animals represent one of the premier areas for biological diversity in the northern hemisphere.

Coronado National Memorial
Coronado National Memorial commemorates the first major European exploration of the American Southwest. The Memorial lies on the United States-Mexico border within sight of the San Pedro River Valley, through which the Coronado Expedition first entered the present U.S. in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.

El Malpais National Monument
Historic and archeological sites provide reminders of past times. More than mere artifacts, these cultural resources are kept alive by the spiritual and physical presence of contemporary Indian groups, including the Puebloan peoples of Acoma, Laguna,and Zuni, and the Ramah Navajo.

El Morro National Monument
Rising 200 feet above the valley floor, this massive sandstone bluff was a welcome landmark for weary travelers. A reliable waterhole hidden at its base made El Morro (or Inscription Rock) a popular campsite. Today, El Morro National Monument protects over 2,000 inscriptions and petroglyphs, as well as Ancestral Puebloan ruins

Fort Bowie National Historic Site
Fort Bowie commemorates in its 1000 acres, the story of the bitter conflict between the Chiricahua Apaches and the United States military. Apache resistance was finally crushed at Fort Bowie, and the result was the end of the Indian wars in the United States.

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument offers a glimpse of the homes and lives of the people of the Mogollon culture who lived in the Gila Wilderness from the 1280s through the early 1300s.

Grand Canyon National Park
One of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world, Grand Canyon is unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers to visitors on the rim.

Hohokam Pima National Monument
Preserved here are the archeological remains of the Hohokam culture. Hohokam is a Pima Indian word meaning "those who have gone."

Joshua Tree National Park
Two deserts, two large ecosystems whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation, come together at Joshua Tree National Park. The Colorado Desert encompasses the eastern part of the park and features natural gardens of creosote bush, ocotillo, and cholla cactus. The higher, moister, and slightly cooler Mojave Desert is the special habitat of the Joshua tree.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Three of America's four desert ecosystems--the Mojave, the Great Basin, and the Sonoran Deserts--meet in Lake Mead NRA. As a result, this seemingly barren area contains a surprising variety of plants and animals. Lake Mead caters to boaters, swimmers, sunbathers, and fishermen while its desert rewards hikers, wildlife photographers, and roadside sightseers.

Mojave National Preserve
The Mojave National Preserve encompasses 1.6 million acres of mountains, jumble rocks, desert washes, and dry lakes.Plant and animal life varies by elevation.

Montezuma Castle National Monument
The five-story, 20-room cliff dwelling served as a "high-rise apartment building" for prehistoric Sinagua Indians over 600 years ago. Early settlers to the area assumed that the imposing structure was associated with the Aztec emperor Montezuma, but the castle was abandoned almost a century before Montezuma was born.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
In this desert wilderness of plants and animals and dramatic mountains and plains scenery, you can drive a lonely road, hike a backcountry trail, camp beneath a clear desert sky, or just soak in the warmth and beauty of the Southwest. The Monument exhibits a collection of plants of the Sonoran Desert, including the organ pipe cactus, a large cactus rarely found in the United States.

Parashant National Monument
Parashant National Monument, located on the northern edge of the Grand Canyon, is a remote area of open, undeveloped spaces. It is an impressive and diverse landscape that includes an array of scientific and historic resources.

Pecos National Historical Park
Pecos preserves 12,000 years of history including the ancient pueblo of Pecos, two Spanish Colonial Missions, Santa Fe Trail sites, 20th century ranch history of Forked Lightning Ranch, and the site of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass

Petrified Forest National Park
Petrified Forest features one of the world's largest and most colorful concentrations of petrified wood. Also included are the multi-hued badlands of the Chinle Formation known as the Painted Desert, historic structures, archeological sites and displays of 225 million-year-old fossils.

Petroglyph National Monument
Petroglyph National Monument protects a variety of cultural and natural resources including five volcanic cones, hundreds of archeological sites and an estimated 25,000 images carved by native peoples and early Spanish settlers.

Saguaro National Park
This unique desert is home to the most recognizable cactus in the world, the majestic saguaro. Saguaro cacti provide their fruits to hungry desert animals. They also provide homes to a variety of birds. With an average life span of 150 years, a mature saguaro may grow to a height of 50 feet and weigh over 10 tons.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument
What remains today are austere yet beautiful reminders of this earliest contact between Pueblo Indians and Spanish Colonials: the ruins of four mission churches, at Quarai, Ab, and Gran Quivira and the partially excavated pueblo of Las Humanas.

Santa Fe National Historic Trail
Between 1821 and 1880, the Santa Fe Trail was primarily a commercial highway connecting Missouri and Santa Fe.

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument
Sunset Crater is the youngest volcano on the Colorado Plateau. The volcano's red rim and the dark lava flows seem to have cooled and hardened to a jagged surface.

Tonto National Monument
Well-preserved cliff dwellings were occupied by the Salado culture The people farmed in the Salt River Valley and supplemented their diet by hunting and gathering native wildlife and plants. The Salado were fine craftsmen, producing some of the most exquisite polychrome pottery and intricately woven textiles to be found in the Southwest. Many of these objects are on display in the Visitor Center museum.

Tumaccori National Historical Park
Tumaccori National Historical Park is comprised of the abandoned ruins of three ancient Spanish colonial missions.

Tuzigoot National Monument
Tuzigoot is an ancient village or pueblo built by a culture known as the Sinagua. The pueblo consisted of 110 rooms including second and third story structures.

Walnut Canyon National Monument
Walnut Canyon was carved by Walnut Creek over a period of 60 million years. The people that lived here moved on to become the modern pueblo people of today. Walnut Canyon is one of their ancestral homes.

White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument preserves a gypsum dune field, along with the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to this constantly changing environment.

Wupatki National Monument
Wupatki is the only known location in the Southwest where physical evidence from at least three archeologically separate ancestral Puebloan cultures is found together in a number of archeological sites. Today, Wupatki National Monument protects 56 square miles of high desert directly west of the Little Colorado River and the Navajo Reservation.