Kofa National Wildlife Refuge

By the 1930s the desert bighorn sheep of the Southwest had been hunted and pushed to the edge, and a public campaign, backed by the Boy Scouts among others, pressed the government to protect them. Kofa was established in 1939 as a game range to give the bighorn a stronghold, and it has served that purpose ever since, its cliffs and hidden water sources sustaining one of the more important herds in Arizona.

The bighorn are perfectly built for this country, climbing sheer rock with ease and going long stretches on little water. Spotting one takes patience and a good pair of binoculars, scanning the high ledges of the Kofa and Castle Dome mountains where they graze and rest. The refuge also shelters mule deer, coyotes, kit foxes, desert tortoises, and a scattering of raptors and desert birds.

The most visited spot in the refuge is Palm Canyon, reached by a short, rocky trail that climbs into a cleft in the Kofa Mountains. Look up into a side canyon and you will see a cluster of tall California fan palms crowded into a shaded, protected crack in the rock. These are the only palms native to Arizona, survivors from a wetter age, hanging on where the canyon walls shield them from sun and freeze.

The best light falls on the grove in the afternoon, when the sun angles into the canyon and lights the fronds against the dark rock. The palms are a botanical curiosity and a reminder of how the Southwest has changed over long stretches of time, a green surprise in a land of stone and thorn.

The refuge is named for the King of Arizona mine, a rich gold strike worked at the turn of the twentieth century, and the surrounding desert is dotted with the remains of that boom. Old workings, tailings, and the ruins of camps mark places where prospectors chased ore across these harsh mountains, and the neighboring Castle Dome district was another busy mining area in its day.

Those days are long gone, and nature has largely reclaimed the ground, but the mining history is part of what shaped the map here, from the roads to the names. Old mine shafts can be dangerous, so the safe course is to admire the history from a distance and leave any workings alone.

Kofa is a place for the cooler half of the year. From late fall through early spring the days are mild and the desert can bloom after winter rains, with wildflowers softening the harsh ground and the mountains standing crisp against clear skies. This is the time to hike Palm Canyon, drive the back roads, and camp under some of the darkest skies in Arizona.

Summer is another matter. The heat here is severe and can turn deadly fast, water is nonexistent, and help is far away, so summer travel is only for the very well prepared. In any season the appeal is the same: solitude, silence, and a piece of the Sonoran Desert left almost exactly as it has always been.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.