Patagonia – Sonoita Scenic Road
Patagonia – Sonoita Scenic Road is a State Scenic Byway in Arizona. Within Arizona it covers roughly 50 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along Patagonia – Sonoita Scenic Road with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
Arizona's Patagonia-Sonoita Scenic Road runs 52.5 miles on Highways 82 and 83 through the Santa Cruz River Basin, from Interstate 10 south to Nogales. The road crosses semi-arid grassland and narrow canyons between mountain ranges that rise abruptly to over 9,000 feet, ground that shows evidence of Archaic-era, Hohokam, and Sobaipuri habitation going back centuries. Father Kino established the mission visita of San Ignacio de Sonoita here in the late 1600s, and after the US acquired the region in the 1854 Gadsden Purchase, soldiers, surveyors, and miners laid out the road's modern alignment. Cavalry and supply wagons from Fort Buchanan and Fort Crittenden deepened the ruts through the 1860s, alongside freight hauling silver ore from the Mowry Mine to distant railroads and smelters. Arizona designated the route a Scenic Road in 1985, only the second road in the state to receive that status, and it remains one of the more historically layered drives in southern Arizona's borderland ranch country.
- Santa Cruz River Basin
- Highway 82/83
- 52.5 miles
- Fort Buchanan history
- Mowry Mine silver freight
- 1985 designation
- Gadsden Purchase
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What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along Patagonia – Sonoita Scenic Road
1 campground or RV park sits within about 5 miles of Patagonia – Sonoita Scenic Road.
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