Tumacacori Wild | The Tumacacori Highlands

The Tumacacori Highlands
(Too-ma-CA-co-ree)

Where Jaguars Roam

The Tumacacori Highlands play host to an incredible array of wild creatures - many of which do not occur anywhere else in the United Stares. Jaguars, elegant trogons, gray hawks, mountain lions, javelina, coati, and many more amazing animals call this area home. Not only do the Highlands offer prime habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife, they also provide sanctuary for over fifty plants and animals that are recognized as threatened, endangered or sensitive - one of the highest concentrations of vulnerable species in the Arizona.

Many species that live in sub-tropical climates, such as the five-stripped sparrow, Mexican vine snake, tropical kingbird, and of course, jaguar, reach their northern limits in the Tumacacori Highlands. Suspended plants growing on limbs called epiphytes, sub-tropical vines entangling trees, and trickling water streaming through shaded canyons give visitors a sense of walking in a timeless, tropical paradise.

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Threats Looming

Increased pressures from population growth and off-road vehicles threaten to change the natural characteristics of the Tumacacori Highlands. Now is the time to act to preserve the current wild area and ensure that our natural and cultural history remains as it is - forever wild, as designated Wilderness.

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Adventure Abounds

Broken lichen-drenched cliffs, undulated hills of oak savannahs, and spectacular rare wildlife combine to create a magical place in the Tumacacori Highlands (Too-ma-CA-co--ree). The Highlands incorporate three mountain ranges that converge to create the largest remaining unprotected wildlands in southern Arizona. Here, the Pajarito, Atascosa, and Tumacacori mountains creep north from Sky Island ranges in northern Mexico.

This vast assemblage of wildlands and the traditional uses that occur there should remain unchanged, sustaining a resource that can forever be appreciated by future generations. Designating this area as Wilderness will secure this future.

From the spectacular views atop Atascosa Lookout and unparalleled scenes stretching far into the horizon, to the deep recesses of Peck Canyon and Hells Gate trickling with pools of precious water, the Tumacacori Highlands offer a world of adventure, beauty and wildlife, unmatched in the Southwest.

Hikers can spend days exploring ridge tops and canyons...

Hunters may search the hills and draws for deer...

History buffs may spend a lifetime looking for a learning about the rich Native American, Hispanic, and early Anglo artifacts still remaining...

And wildlife enthusiasts can revel in an area that boasts more wildlife and plants than inhabit some entire states, including many endemic species that occur no where else on earth.

Our Communities' Natural and Cultural Heritage

From ancient cultures to modern life, people have depended upon the tumacacori Highlands as a sanctuary, hideout, and home. Today, they also provide a refuge from busy lives led elsewhere. The Highlands provided essential resources for the Tumacacori Mission, begun in 1691 by Father Euseblo Francisco Kino - the first of its kind to be founded in Arizona, marking the Spaniards' first attempt at settling the region. Visitors may also find ancient grinding stones (called matates), petrogylphs, and pottery left by the Sobaipuri and Pima natives long ago. The rich history of people and places makes the Tumacacori Highlands a special place worth protecting.

Atascosa Lookout
Edward Abbey

Created as a National Forest Service Fire Lookout in 1930, this astounding viewpoint of the Tumacacori Highlands is a favorite hike for many visitors. Well known as a historical landmark through the National Register of Historical Places, the small stone house was the temporary home of well-known southwestern writer Edward Abbey, who worked as a seasonal fire lookout in the late 1960's and early 70's. His book, "Confessions of a Barbarian" includes writings from his time living atop Atascosa Peak at 6,249' elevation amongst pinion pine and juniper. The hike is moderate, with a 1500' gain to the Atascosa Lookout House, approximately 6 miles round-trip. From the summit, spectacular views of the Tumacacori Highlands lay before you, and in horizon are the Baboquivaris, Sierrita Mountains, Santa Rita Mountains and deep expanse of northern Mexico.

View from Atascosa.

For more information about the species, habitats, cultural sites and managment concerns of the Tumacacori Highlands, read the:

Tumacacori Ecological Managment Report, Chaper 6 of the State of the Coronado National Forest: An Assessment and Recommendations for the 21st Century. Read the whole document at the Sky Island Action Center.

Why Wilderness?
by Mike Quigley, Sky Island Alliance Wilderness Campaign Coordinator
Published in Restoring Connections, 2007. Download the full page insert.

In early August, Congressman Raul Grijalva introduced H.R. 3287, the Tumacacori Highlands Wilderness Act of 2007, into the United States House of Representatives. When Passed, this legislation will designate Wilderness for the windswept peaks and breathtaking vistas of the Tumacacori Highlands -- approximately 80,000 acres of wild Arizona northwest of Nogales.

This legislation builds on the public lands protections legacy and bipartisan work of Morris Udall, John McCain, and Barry Goldwater. Congressman Grijalva and his staff have worked collaboratively for more than four years with a diverse array of Arizonans to accommodate a range of interests in the proposal.

As a result, the legislation preserves the land, the functioning ecosystem, the intact habitat; and has the broad support of individuals and groups: conservationists, hunters, businesspeople, HOAs, scientists, church groups, and more.

Time was when America was mostly wilderness, when the "settled" places were small and surrounded by wild. Time was when people feared the wilderness, when it was something to be tamed, beaten, converted. Time was when it seemed we'd never run short of wild places. That time is long gone.

Today, we know the values of wilderness: as a functioning ecosystem and a clean watershed; as intact habitat for magnificent creatures like jaguars and leopard frogs; as a natural classroom where we can learn how the world works; as a place for traditional hunting experiences; as a spiritual resource; as a natural escape from the bustle of town life for hikers, photographers, painters, birders, picnickers, equestrians, and many others. Today, the settled places sprawl across the maps and the land has been largely converted -- to subdivisions, parking lots, highways, and amusement areas. Today, it is wilderness that is surrounded -- and in decreasing supply.

Fortunately, we have means of preserving the wilderness we have left. In 1964, with the Wilderness Act, Congress created the National Wilderness Preservation System and with it a means for wild, intact public lands to be preserved with a special designation of "Wilderness." Congress did this " ...to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition...[and] to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness..." [Public Law 88-577; Section 2(a); Read the entire Act here].

Wilderness designation, in the most basic sense, provides wild places for wild things to be wild. Certainly, that's needed. And it through Wilderness protection that we have places like Mt. Wrightson, Rincon Mountains, Pusch Ridge, Aravaipa Canyon, and Sycamore Canyon protected for the people of southern Arizona to enjoy -- now, and for generations to come.

The Tumacacori Highlands Wilderness Act of 2007 takes a crucial step in protecting an irreplaceable natural resource that makes Arizona special. Within an hour's drive of over a million people, the Tumacacori Highlands needs our vigilance and protection if it is to remain remarkable and special, if it is to remain an enduring resource of wilderness for future generations, if it is to continue to be Arizona as Arizona used to be.