Canelo Hills Cienega Reserve

The Canelo Hills Cienega Reserve is a 260-acre nature preserve south-east of Sonoita, Arizona, on the east side of the Canelo Hills, protecting a mix of rare cienega wetland and black oak and Arizona fescue fields. It is notable for the extremely rare Canelo ladies' tresses orchid, Spiranthes delitescens, and for the Gila chub and Gila sucker that live along its alkaline banks. The Nature Conservancy purchased the former ranch from the Knipes family in 1969, and it was designated a National Natural Landmark in December 1974.

Where it is

Canelo Hills Cienega Reserve is a natural landmark near Sierra Vista, in Santa Cruz County. It is one of the natural landmarks in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.

How this ranking was reached

No official visitor count is published for Canelo Hills Cienega Reserve, so its score rests on public interest and tourism significance, and is capped below the level a measured attraction can reach. That is why the medium confidence above is not higher. The weighting is explained in full on the methodology page, and every axis is broken out under Facts and sources at the foot of this page.

Note on the data: No official visitor count is published for this attraction.

Sources

• Public interest: Wikimedia pageviews (en.wikipedia, human traffic), 2024
• Coordinates and designations: Wikidata(opens in a new tab)
• County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates

Record last verified 2026-08-12.