Yaqui Fire prompts closures at Coronado National Memorial, then reopens to visitors

The Yaqui Fire shut down Coronado National Memorial’s borderlands access, then the park and the road to Montezuma Pass reopened while one key trail stayed closed. For hikers on the southern end of the Arizona Trail, and for anyone driving out for the pass, the immediate question was simple: can you still go, and for what?

Fire crews first responded after smoke was reported near Montezuma Pass on May 14, and the blaze was confirmed shortly after contractors working along the border wall spotted it. The fire grew from an initial report of 10 acres to about 55.5 to 56 acres as suppression work continued, with forward progress stopped by the time of the latest park release. On Thursday afternoon, the Coronado Visitor Center and surrounding buildings were evacuated as a precaution, and Montezuma Pass Road was temporarily closed from the park entrance to the U.S. Forest Service junctions while helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and multiple agencies worked the line.

By May 15, Coronado National Memorial had reopened the park and the road to Montezuma Pass, but Joe’s Canyon Trail remained closed. The Arizona Trail Association said visitors should expect diminished visibility and poor air quality from smoke, a key warning for anyone heading into Passage 1 of the Arizona National Scenic Trail. That matters because the Yaqui Ridge Trail is the southernmost section of the Arizona Trail, beginning at boundary marker 102 on the Mexican border and running through Joe’s Canyon Trail and Coronado Peak Trail toward Montezuma Pass.

For scenic drivers, the reopening meant access returned to one of the memorial’s biggest draw cards, but not without caveats. Montezuma Pass sits at 6,575 feet, about 3 miles west of the visitor center, and the road climbs roughly 1,300 feet in 2 miles. The pass also serves as the parking area for park trails and connecting U.S. Forest Service routes, so a road reopening does not automatically mean full trail access.

Coronado National Memorial is a 4,750-acre unit in the Sky Island bioregion and the only place in the National Park System that commemorates Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s 1540-1542 expedition. That history, plus the panoramic views over the U.S.-Mexico border and the San Pedro River Valley, keeps the memorial high on many Southern Arizona itineraries. But the Yaqui Fire showed how fast those plans can change: the park can reopen, the pass can reopen, and a single trail corridor can still stay off-limits while smoke and suppression work continue around it.