General Information

Sierra Vista is a military town of 43,000 people, located approximately 70 miles (1 hour 15 minutes) southeast of Tucson in Cochise County. Due to the presence of Fort Huachuca (by far the biggest employer in the county), there are plenty of  motels and restaurants; and just about every fast food joint is represented on the main drag, (French) Fry Blvd. The combination of  good visitor facilities and its central location make Sierra Vista an excellent choice as your base for birding Southeast Arizona. After all, that's why I chose to live here!

Birding locations in the immediate area include Carr, Garden, Miller, Ramsey, Sawmill, and  Scheelite Canyons in the Huachuca Mountains, French Joe Canyon (of Rufous-capped Warbler fame) in the Whetstone Mountains, the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (San Pedro River), and the picturesque Sierra Vista Environmental Operations Plant :).  To the west you can easily reach the San Rafael grasslands, Patagonia, Nogales, and Madera Canyon, and to the east are the Sulphur Springs Valley and the Chiricahua Mountains.

Click on the links above for driving directions, detailed city maps, and a listing of motels. The detailed maps show selected motels, restaurants and other businesses that a visiting birder may find useful. Inclusion does not necessarily imply recommendation.

About the maps: By default, some browsers automatically shrink images to fit the available window. This will only be a problem if you are viewing the maps on displays with low resolution (generally, less than 1024 x 768 pixels). If the map features and text look small and fuzzy, try the following 1) click the map which sometimes restores the image to normal size; OR, 2) better yet, configure your browser (in options/preferences) not to resize images.

Please be aware that some of the maps have been compressed to keep file sizes as small as possible while still maintaining a usable screen image. Consequently, they will probably not produce a high quality printed image.