Hiking at Chiricahua National Monument shows quite a different look from a widely expected Arizona landscape. Here, the Chiricahua hillsides are eerily dotted with thousands of figurine-like, volcanic rhyolite rock. This fine grained, igneous rock is covered with neon green lichens. The colorful lichens are made up of multiple organisms. Seemingly just a simple plant, the lichens are actually made of a combination of fungi, algae or cyanobacterium. The slow growing lichens, growing only millimeters per century, are sensitive to air quality. Here in Arizona's Chiricahua National Monument, far away from large cities and industry, the air is clean and pure.
Over 20 miles of trails wind through this wonderland of rocks. Pictured here is the two million pound Big Balanced Rock found on the trail of the same name. Many of the individual trails are woven together in the Big Loop, a 9.5 mile trail for vistors that want to see everything.