[PORTAL, ARIZONA] — Chiricahua National Monument is one of the least visited national parks in the United States. When I heard that fact I said “I am definitely in.” Here’s an overview of hiking in the Chiricahua National Monument near Portal Arizona. Photos of Portal Peak Lodge and Portal Arizona. You can see why, tucked into this vast, barren southwestern corner of the US, you’re not “going through” here on the way to somewhere else, you came here for a reason. And so did we. This is the high desert down here, with elevations starting around 5,000 feet and going up to 7500 ft inside the park, so it’s a lot cooler than the surrounding flat desert. The Quaint Town of Portal Arizona–The Gateway
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[RODEO, NEW MEXICO] — A review of the Painted Pony Resort a private rental ranch in the New Mexico desert that you can rent on VRBO. It’s a great base for star-gazing as it’s right in the middle of a Dark Sky Reserve in New Mexico. Also, an overview of bird-watching Patagonia Arizona. _________________________________ I went with my best college buddies on a bird-watching road trip along the southern Arizona and New Mexico border. Three were into birding, two of us were along for the beer. We flew into Tucson and headed straight south, stopping at popular birding spots along the way to Nogales and the Mexican border. Then we dog-legged left and skirted the border the whole way until we crossed in New Mexico and