Box Canyon
Box Canyon Road #62 is a designated scenic drive (gravel road) in the Santa Rita Mountains. Box Canyon Road takes you into an area of the mountain range where open grasslands predominate and where broad views stretch across the immense basins and isolated mountain ranges that make up the Coronado National Forest. This all-weather gravel road heads east off the route to Madera Canyon at a point where the pavement branches south toward that well-known recreation site. The road continues wandering across the grassy, mesquite-dotted flats of the Santa Rita Experimental Range to the Forest boundary where it crosses little Box Canyon Creek and begins climbing the northern shoulder of the Santa Rita Mountains.
The mountains here are lower than those that form the core of the mountain range and are covered with waving expanses of grass rather than stately forests. Off to the left of what has become a narrow, winding mountain road, Box Canyon is visible as a deep gorge highlighted with bright green cottonwoods and silver barked sycamores. At one point along the road, a rocky seep covers a sheer cliff with algae and colorful wildflowers. The road reaches the top of its climb in an area of broad pastures and wood corrals where excellent views stretch to the east of seas of grass surrounding sky island mountain ranges.
Site Information
Region: Tucson and Southern
County: Santa Cruz
Directions: Take Interstate 19 south from Tucson to the Continental Road Exit at Green Valley. Leave the Interstate and drive east one mile to Forest Road 62 (signs here point to Madera Canyon). Follow FR 62 past the Madera Canyon/FR 70 cutoff, where the road turns to dirt and bears left, to AZ State Highway 83 a few miles north of Sonoita.
Latitude: 31.799682
Longitude: -110.780976
Operational Hours: Open all year, 24 hours a day
Admission or Fees: None
Habitats: Desert, Grassland
Know Before You Go
Gravel road.
Safety First! Arizona has many beautiful places to explore and we’d like to help you make it a safe and enjoyable experience. Check out our recommendations for hiking precautions.
Species Highlights
Rare: Five-striped Sparrow
Speciality: Mexican Jay, Montezuma’s Quail, Painted Redstart, Varied Bunting, Whiskered Screech-owl
Charismatic: Black-throated Sparrow, Cactus Wren, Phainopepla
Contact Information
USDA - Forest Service
Coronado National Forest - Nogales Ranger District
303 Old Tucson Road
Nogales, AZ 85621
Phone: 520-281-2296
Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coronado/recarea/?recid=25736
Additional Resources
Learn more about birds reported at this location at eBird:
https://ebird.org/hotspot/L340405?yr=all&m=&rank=hc
