File:Ironwood Forest National Monument (53720847417).jpg

English: The Ironwood Forest National Monument, which takes its name from on of the longest living trees in the Arizona desert, is 189,600 acres, of which 128,400 acres are administered by the Bureau of Land Management with the balance of land privately owned or State Trust land. Keeping company with the ironwood trees are mesquite, palo verde, creosote, and saguaro, blanketing the monument floor beneath rugged mountain ranges named Silver Bell, Waterman and Sawtooth. In between, desert valleys lay quietly to complete the setting.

Elevations here range from 1,800 to more than 4,200 feet. Ragged Top Mountain is the biological and geological crown jewel of the monument. Several endangered and threatened species live here, including the Nichols turk’s head cactus and the lesser long-nosed bat. The monument also contains habitat for the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl. The desert bighorn sheep dwelling in the region are the last viable population indigenous to the Tucson basin.

Three areas within the monument, the Los Robles Archeological District, the Mission of Santa Ana del Chiquiburitac and the Cocoraque Butte Archaeological District, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The area holds abundant rock art sites and other archaeological objects of scientific interest. Humans have inhabited the area for more than 5,000 years. More than 200 sites from the prehistoric Hohokam period (600 A.D. to 1440 A.D.) have been recorded in the area. In more modern times, the area was a source of minerals and continues to support active mining operations today.

Photo by John Craig/Bureau of Land Management.