Coronado National Memorial

US National Memorials comprise an odd array of themes, so it's not terribly weird that we have one for a Spanish conquistador (we have two actually - also one for de Soto in Florida). Beautiful area with trails, an excellent visitor center and other features. At the very least, if you're able, hike up to the top of Coronado Peak from Montezuma Pass. It's a short hike but gains 300 feet in elevation. Good views up there.The Coronado memorial is somewhat out of the way but still easily accessible from I-10. If your vehicle has good tires, after visiting Coronado consider continuing on westward through Montezuma Pass towards Parker Canyon Lake and the town of Sonoita. It's a nice drive. 4WD not required but make sure your spare tire is in good shape.

This is definitely an underrated park! The visitor center has restrooms, a water fountain, and exhibits explaining the history of the park, as well as chain mail and hats if you want to dress up and pretend to be an exploring Spaniard.There are gorgeous views of the area on top of the peak, although to get to Coronado Peak Trail (0.8 mi) you have to drive up the mountain on a dirt road. The road is maintained pretty well though, and there's plenty of room if there's two sided traffic. At the end of the trail, there's a covered shed and benches, as well as a little box containing a book if you want to write down your reflections and read what other people wrote. The Coronado Cave Trail (1 mi) was amazing. I am not much of a spelunker but I thought it wasn't too difficult- you have to scramble over some rock to descend into the entrance, but you can look at where other people have went and follow that. There are some cool cave formations inside. We had the cave to ourselves. Very cool!

I really enjoyed my day trip to the southern border to visit this site. Coronado National Memorial was built to commemorate Conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's first expedition into the southwest in 1540. Mexico was supposed to build an adjoining memorial on the other side of the border to make this a joint international memorial. But that never happened and so this became a national memorial. There is a small visitor center on site that has educational material about Coronado and his expedition and maps of the surrounding area.There are a number of hikes you can do while here. I highly suggest doing the one mile Coronado Cave Trail and explore the cave at the end of the trail. The cave is about 600 feet long and was probably used as a hideout or for shelter. Make sure you bring a light source and water (my cellphone light wasn't enough). I also took the drive up to the Montezuma Pass overlook. The scenery is incredible and provides views of the San Raphael Valley to the west, the San Pedro Valley to the east, and Mexico to the south. There are picnic tables and a hiking trail at this overlook. Some places of interest on the drive to Coronado National Memorial are Fort Huachuca and Kartchner Caverns State Park. Bisbee and Tombstone are to the east.

Out of the way, but completely worth the drive.Park Service lady was above average and Ive been to a lot of parks. I wish I would've caught her name to recognize her. We saw a Coatis (raccoon on steroids) through the glass, while watching a video on Spanish Expansion, while my sister tried on replicated Spanish Armor. The half a mile hike is moderate and the views are beautiful. Each with our own flashlight, we ventured into the cave. The bigness of the rooms was surprising compared to other caves I've been in. Perfect temp. No guides, No commercialism, No lit paths -A good thing.Not gonna tell you too much about it, just go see for yourself.

If you like caves this one is a really fun cave you can do on your own. No tour guide. Take two forms of lights like head lamp or flashlight (cell phone isn't great light for cave). Good hiking shoes is best. Once you get inside you have to climb down to floor of cave. Very open rooms. One part required getting on belly and squeezing through. Opens up once we crawl a bit. 10+ would be fine in here. I wouldn't take younger kiddos. Teens would love it. Great visitor center. Friendly rangers. Funny side note* When we came out of cave temperature had dropped significantly and it had hailed a lot! See pic of hail.

Moderate hike up a picturesque mountain slope. We enjoyed natural plants and desert wildlife. The cave was large and dark, please take a flashlight or headlight. The cave is worth the hike.

The park service lady (Kim) was very helpful and kind. The history of Coronado National Memorial is interesting! The road to Montezuma Pass is unpaved! I was a little nervous as a passenger because the gravel was loose. The view from the top was breathtaking though. Fun fact, there's a Pokémon gym up there for my fellow pogo players. We continued to drive on the dirt roads to Patagonia and it was really bumpy at times. Thankfully it wasn't too dusty because of the rain from the day before. We saw deer, cattle, vultures, and even a donkey when passing through. We also saw Harshaw, Duquesne, and Lochiel, which are ghost towns. There was even a small cemetery in one. Driving on the back roads felt like an adventure. If you have the right car, I recommend it.

Beautiful place for hikes! I am new to the area and haven't hiked for a while due to covid so this was a nice place to walk around. Some trails are quite narrow so bring appropriate clothing/shoes for hiking.

We did not know what to expect here since they are closed due to the government shutdown. What we found was a beautiful, clean wonderland. Disappointed that the Visitor Center was closed but, you can still drive through and go out to the Montezuma Pass. And you can use the picnic area which was spotless clean. The drive out to the pass is on an unpaved road so you need an appropriate vehicle to drive a road with switchbacks and potholes all along the way. If you make it to the top you will be rewarded with amazing views and you can see the Mexico border. The picnic area is one of the best we've seen in a National Park. We had a Park Ranger stop to say hello. One of the nicest, most polite Rangers we've met. He was working without pay but, he said he did not mind as he loved what he was doing and would get paid with backpay sometime down the road. He told us some stories about the Illegals that come through the area and showed us some of the surveillance devices that are around. If you visit the this area make sure you take the drive here. It's only 5 miles off Hwy 92.

Amazing views especially sunrise and sunset on top of Montezuma pass. Also the cave at the bottom of the mountain is amazing. Such a beautiful are of AZ.