More than 97,000 acres of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert were selected for protection as part of the Eagletail Mountains Wilderness. Because of its topographic diversity and magnificent scenery, the area is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts—from backpackers, to rock climbers, to photographers, and many others. Rock arches, natural spires, and jagged ridgelines are among the area’s geologic wonders, contrasting with sandy desert washes extending as long as 8 miles. The quiet presence of raptors, coyotes, and great horned owls mesmerizes the attentive visitor, while petroglyphs discovered in the rocks reveal secrets of some of the earliest Native American inhabitants in the Southwest.

The area—which includes 15 miles of the Eagletail Mountains’ ridgeline, a highly recognizable monolith known as Courthouse Rock, and a vast desert plain—was designated a wilderness area by Congress as part of the Arizona Desert Wilderness Act of 1990. Today, it is managed by the Bureau of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation System.