Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club

The second stop on last weeks hike with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club was the Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge.  After a short drive back through Douglas AZ the hiking club headed north to visit another small wildlife refuge at Leslie Canyon in the Swisshelm Mountains southwest of the Chiricahua Mountains.  The refuge is home to endangered fish species as well as a population of Chiricahua Mountain Leopard Frogs.  The American Museum of Natural History Southwest Research Station in Cave Creek Canyon is a partner with Leslie Canyon Wildlife Refuge in the recovery of the Chiricahua Mountain Leopard Frog.  Tadpoles from the population in Leslie Canyon have been reared at the Southwest Research Station in an effort to create a new population within the historic range of the Chiricahua Mountain leopard frog.

The hiking club reassembled at the trailhead on Leslie Canyon Road and proceeded the mile and half north northwest downstream following the old road to the old mine.  Traversing through the high desert scrub the group crossed several contacts between the Naco limestone and granite and rhyolite. Upon reaching the mine the group explored the old mine, viewing the old stone miners building, and examined detritus from early mining activities.  The map for the Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge hike may be found through the link or on the hiking page.

Old stone building in Leslie Canyon

Calcite along the old road in Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge

Casa de Rana at the Southwest Research Station