Last Updated: May 2026
Willcox sits in the Sulphur Springs Valley at 4,167 feet — cooler and wetter than the desert floor at Tucson or Phoenix, and surrounded by some of the most historically significant and visually dramatic country in southeastern Arizona. We’ve stopped here twice, drawn first by the wine country and again in spring 2020 when we needed a low-key base after a long drive from Elephant Butte, New Mexico. The wineries were closed on that 2020 visit — COVID stay-at-home orders were in effect — but the backcountry around Willcox was very much open, and we spent a week exploring Chiricahua National Monument’s back roads, the Fort Bowie National Historic Site, and the remote Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge. The area more than earned its place on our return list.
