1.6 miles away
Calabasas
A ghost town within Rio Rico, a suburb of Nogales in Santa Cruz County, whose name is Spanish for 'pumpkins'.
Sonoita Creek State Natural Area
Nearly 10,000 acres of riparian and upland habitat below Patagonia Lake, an Important Bird Area with 106 recorded bird species.
- Rank in Arizona
- #622of 727 ranked
- Overall score
- Score 24.6 out of 100low confidence
- Category
- State Natural Area
Sonoita Creek State Natural Area is a protected area of nearly 10,000 acres in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, downstream of Patagonia Lake State Park along lower Sonoita Creek, a perennial tributary of the Santa Cruz River. It takes in aquatic and riparian habitats with their associated perennial water sources, together with upland habitat, and supports uncommon plant species and a high diversity of wildlife: 106 identified bird species, 36 species of reptile and amphibian, 49 species of damselfly and dragonfly, more than 130 butterfly species, and five species of bat among its mammals. It holds the federally listed Gila topminnow and is designated an Important Bird Area. Twenty miles of trails are open to walkers, of which eight are shared with horse riders, and there is one primitive hike-in campsite. Access is by a pass obtained at the Patagonia Lake State Park entrance station.
Where it is
Sonoita Creek State Natural Area is a state natural area near Patagonia, in Santa Cruz County. It is one of the state natural areas in this database, and appears in the statewide ranking of Arizona attractions.
How this ranking was reached
No official visitor count is published for Sonoita Creek State Natural 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 low 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.
Mentioned in
- Five parks carry half of Arizona's state park visits — Arizona's 32 state park units recorded 3,122,079 visits in 2024, and the five busiest accounted for 53 per cent of them.
Sources
- Coordinates and designations: OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0(opens in a new tab)
- County: U.S. Census geography via FCC Area API, resolved from coordinates
Record last verified 2026-08-12.
Nearby attractions
2.0 miles away
Calabazas Mission
A Spanish mission, also known as Calabasas, in the Sonoran Desert near present-day Tumacácori, Arizona.
5.5 miles away
Pete Kitchen Ranch
A ranch established on Potrero Creek near Nogales in about 1862, reputed to be the first permanent American ranch in Arizona.
5.8 miles away
Guevavi Mission
A Jesuit mission near Tumacácori, Arizona, founded in 1691 by Eusebio Kino and Juan María de Salvatierra as a district headquarters.
6.0 miles away
Patagonia Lake State Park
A 250-acre lake south of Patagonia, created by damming Sonoita Creek, used for fishing, boating and birding.8.3 miles away
Pimeria Alta Historical Society and Museum
Pimeria Alta Historical Society and Museum, in Nogales, Arizona, occupies the 1914 former City Hall and displays artefacts on the region's history.
Facts and sources
Place
- Category
- State Natural Area
- Destination
- Patagonia
- County
- Santa Cruz County
- State
- Arizona
Visitation
- Annual visits
- Not published
Ranking
- Overall score
- 24.6 / 100
- Visitation score
- No published count
- Popularity score
- No data
- Significance score
- 56.0
- Confidence
- low
Visiting
- Coordinates
- 31.4814, -110.9543
- Last verified
- 2026-08-12