San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area

The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area protects nearly 57,000 acres (23,000 ha) of public land in Cochise County, Arizona, between the international border with Mexico and St David. Some 40 miles (64 km) of the upper San Pedro River meander through it, in a transition zone between the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts regarded as one of the most important riparian areas in the United States. Congress designated it on 18 November 1988, largely through the efforts of congressman Jim Kolbe, and assigned it to the Bureau of Land Management. The southern San Pedro Valley is home to 84 species of mammal, 14 of fish, 41 of reptile and amphibian, and 100 breeding bird species, and provides habitat for a further 250 species of migrant and wintering birds; its archaeological sites record human occupation going back 13,000 years. The BLM also maintains the Fairbank Historic Townsite and the San Pedro House, a restored 1930s ranch house east of Sierra Vista now serving as a visitor centre. In April 2022 the river was named one of America's Most Endangered Rivers, and conservation groups later sued over a BLM proposal to expand livestock grazing in the protected area.

Where it is

San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area is a natural landmark near Sierra Vista, in Cochise 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 San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area, 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: Wikivoyage(opens in a new tab)
• County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
• Official site: https://www.blm.gov/national-conservation-lands/arizona/san-pedro(opens in a new tab)

Record last verified 2026-08-12.