Mexican Border Road, approximately 17 miles south of Sierra Vista, starts and finishes with some great long distance views and in between features a drive along an international border through a sea of grass. Heading south out of Sierra Vista, the Huachuca Mountains and their dramatic exposed "Reef", towers above you to the west. You'll cross that mountain range at the top of Montezuma Pass, in the Coronado National Memorial, where you'll have a huge expanse of Mexico and southern Arizona at your feet.

From the pass, the drive drops into the immense grassland of the San Rafael Valley. The sleepy little settlement of Lochiel, with its border crossing which has been closed since 1986, will scarcely notice your passage, even if you stop at the monument to Fray Marcos De Niza, the guide for the Spanish explorer Coronado. After that it's on to the Patagonia Mountains and the gold mining boomtown-turned-ghost town of Washington Camp. At an unnamed pass just before you drop into Nogales and the end of the drive, there are more good views of the Atascosa, Baboquivari, and Pajarito mountain ranges to the west.

Road Conditions: The first 20 miles are paved, the rest is dirt but passable by 2-wheel drive vehicles.

Directions: From Sierra Vista, Drive south 17 miles out of Sierra Vista on AZ Hwy. 92 to the Coronado National Memorial turnoff. Turn right (south) and continue through the memorial, up and over Montezuma Pass to FR 61. Follow FR 61 all the way to Nogales.

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