COMMUNITY
Monumentally unknown This national monument may be Maricopa’s biggest secret — literally
BY JEFF CHEW
I
T’S MARICOPA’S best-kept secrets, even if it’s a massive half-million acres with three federally protected desert ONE OF
wilderness areas. Sonoran Desert National Monument is a huge but lesser-known attraction in the 85139 ZIP code, with 26 miles of hiking trails in wilderness settings. Even the federally designated park’s visitor center, which is in the city of Maricopa, gets few inquiries about the monument from hikers exploring the area, said people who work there. “We just get it now and then,” said Dorothy Charles, who oversees the archives at the visitor center, 44200 W. Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. “It’s hit and miss.” Charles would like to see more of her Maricopa neighbors take advantage of the wilderness adventure in their backyard. Making a monument President Bill Clinton proclaimed the vast desert land a national monument nearly a quarter-century ago. Designating the national monument was one of Clinton’s final acts at the end of his second term in 2001. The monument is a place you’ll find untamed and undisturbed green prickly towers of ancient saguaro cactus, probably the single most iconic
Land Management says park HQ is in Maricopa. “It’s not a national park because it was established by presidential proclamation,” said Chris Wonderly, public affairs specialist for the BLM District Office in Phoenix. Only the U.S. Congress can designate a national park or wilderness areas, Wonderly said. Maricopa access to the monument is as close as State Route 238, just 8 miles west of the city.
symbol of Arizona. Many of them can be seen near the edges of deeply contrasting cottonfields at Hidden Valley Road near the Box Canyon Shooting Range, west of Maricopa. Charles recommends seeing the monument when the saguaros are blooming in April. The monument extends from south of Interstate 8 to the northern edge of the Gila River Indian Community, touching the southern outskirts of Buckeye. Though the U.S. Bureau of
InMaricopa.com | February 2025
February 2025 | InMaricopa.com
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