Parking
Start at the Bonita Creek Picnic Area parking. The route ends at Faraway Ranch Picnic Area; if your car is back at Bonita Creek, retrace the same path.
Overview
About Bonita Creek Trail
Why go
- Easy creekside route with a historic destination.
- A short birding walk with some tree shade.
Heads up
- The creek is usually dry.
- Return to the Bonita Creek lot means retracing the connector.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Chiricahua map
Full mapElevation5,144–5,220 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Chiricahua alerts
- CautionRabies warning for wild animalsRabies has been detected in Southeast Arizona; do not approach, feed, or touch wild animals.Official details
- InfoVehicle and trailer limits on Bonita Canyon DriveCheck vehicle length before continuing past Faraway Ranch Parking; there is no large-vehicle turnaround farther up Bonita Canyon Drive. The road narrows and winds steeply up the mountain.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Chiricahua Tour Guide
Your drive to Bonita Creek Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Chiricahua National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Bonita Creek Picnic Area0:00 / 0:26
“You're coming up on Bonita Creek Picnic Area, a useful stop for lunch and an easy stretch of the legs. The level, paved loop is just a fifth of a mile and is wheelchair accessible.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Chiricahua Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Erickson Cemetery
- Faraway Ranch and Stafford Cabin
- Ranching by Touch
- A Jay Family at Work
- 26 audio storiesacross Chiricahua’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, White-nosed Coati, White-tailed Deer, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 14 trails, 17 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Bonita Creek Trail
A short creek connectorBonita Creek Trail is a roughly 0.
Bonita Creek Trail is a roughly 0.6-mile point-to-point walk between Bonita Creek and Faraway Ranch picnic areas, following the usually dry creek. The park's current map labels it 0.6 mile; another park description rounds it to a half mile. Allow 30 to 60 minutes for an easy visit. If your car is back at Bonita Creek, walk back the way you came for roughly 1.2 miles total. I'd pick this for a brief creekside stroll with a historic destination, not for a big water-side hike.
Along the creekThe route is gentle and follows lower Bonita Creek through grasses and patches of tree shade.
The route is gentle and follows lower Bonita Creek through grasses and patches of tree shade. The map describes Bonita Creek as partly paved, while a hiker reports packed dirt and gravel on the creekside walk; the exact surface change isn't clear, so expect a mix.
Watch for wildlifeBonita Creek is usually dry, though it can carry water after heavy winter rain.
Bonita Creek is usually dry, though it can carry water after heavy winter rain. The park highlights migrating birds, deer, coatimundi and javelina along the creek. Those are possibilities rather than promised sightings, but the riparian strip makes this a good short birding stop.
Faraway Ranch is the other endThe walk finishes at Faraway Ranch Picnic Area beside the Faraway Ranch Historic District.
The walk finishes at Faraway Ranch Picnic Area beside the Faraway Ranch Historic District. If you want to keep going, the separate Silver Spur Meadow route makes a longer walk toward the Visitor Center; it isn't part of this 0.6-mile connector. Dogs are allowed on leash, and no reservation is needed; the regular park entrance fee may apply.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Chiricahua
20 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
150 sightingsWhite-nosed CoatiMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
184 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
22 sightingsMojave RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
16 sightingsWestern Diamond-backed RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
12 sightingsRock RattlesnakeMost seen around 5 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Chiricahua. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
