Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge

A small canyon for Río Yaqui fish and gallery forest

Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge covers 2,765 acres in Cochise County, about 17.5 miles north of the Mexico border and north of Douglas. It was established in 1988 to protect two of the eight native fishes of the Río Yaqui drainage that still occur on the United States side of the line: Yaqui chub (Gila purpurea) and Yaqui topminnow (Poeciliopsis sonoriensis). The same designation locks in a velvet ash–black walnut–cottonwood gallery forest along Leslie Creek — a rare riparian stringer in an otherwise dry southeast-Arizona basin that concentrates migrating and nesting birds.

The public footprint is modest: a signed trailhead, a short walk into the open portion of the canyon, and large closed areas where sensitive habitat and listed fish come first. There is no visitor-center campus on site. Birds and the canyon walk are what most day visitors come for. The fish themselves live in protected waters you will not be entering.

Two addresses, one complex

Headquarters for the San Bernardino / Leslie Canyon complex sit separately from the canyon trailhead, at 7628 North Highway 191 (about 31.5035, −109.6559), roughly 11.5 miles north of the Highway 80 / 191 junction west of Douglas. The office keeps weekday hours; check the refuge page on fws.gov for the current schedule. Stop there for maps, regulations, and current conditions — the canyon trailhead is a separate site.

The refuge trailhead is on Leslie Canyon Road at approximately 31.5880, −109.5136. From Douglas, follow A Avenue north; after Highway 80 it becomes Leslie Canyon Road. Continue about 16.4 miles to the refuge; the trailhead is another third of a mile up Leslie Canyon Road. From I-10 eastbound at Benson (exit 303), follow signs through Benson toward Tombstone, then Davis Road for about twenty-six miles to Highway 191, then south toward the headquarters spur if you need the office first. Leslie Canyon Road on the refuge is a county-maintained road open to street-legal vehicles. Passenger cars handle it in dry weather; after monsoon storms, expect soft spots and wash debris and turn around if the road looks flooded. There is no entrance fee. There are no restrooms, water, or trash service on the refuge — pack everything both ways.

What is open and what is closed

Public use is daylight only: generally sunrise to sunset for general visitors, and half an hour before legal sunrise to half an hour after legal sunset for the open hunting area. Unauthorized presence outside those hours is trespass. Lands south of Leslie Canyon Road are closed to public entry; signs mark the boundary. The open area is about 810 acres of refuge land north of the road — room for a quiet hike, birding, and in-season hunting under Arizona Game and Fish and refuge rules. It is too small for a multi-day backpack.

Leslie Canyon Trail is the designated foot route from the parking area into the canyon. Stay on established trails; horseback use is limited to those same trails. Dogs must be leashed outside permitted hunting use. No camping, overnight parking, fires, or drones. No boating, floating, swimming, or wading in refuge waters — those rules protect the aquatic habitat the refuge was created for. Do not remove plants, animals, rocks, or artifacts. Vehicles stay on the county road; nothing goes off-road or through closed gates.

Hunting is limited to designated open ground and listed species under state seasons: certain doves, quail, limited upland game and furbearers when seasons overlap deer or javelina hunts, plus mule deer, white-tailed deer, javelina, and black bear under the conditions published on the refuge hunting page. Falconry, dogs for dove hunting, and pneumatic weapons are prohibited for the migratory-bird hunt. All state licensing and shooting-hour rules apply. Check the current Leslie Canyon hunt brochure on fws.gov before any hunt day — capacity and boundary details change by season.

Field conditions near the border

Carry more water than the short trail distance suggests. Cell service is unreliable; phones may latch onto Mexican towers and incur international charges. Unattended vehicles have been vandalized in remote southeast Arizona pullouts — do not leave valuables visible, and do not treat the lot as secure storage. High-speed traffic related to law-enforcement activity can occur on nearby roads; stay alert on Leslie Canyon Road. Summer monsoon heat and lightning are real hazards; winter mornings can be cold in the canyon bottom. Pair the stop with San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge (same complex, closer to the border) only if you have confirmed that refuge’s separate access rules and hours. Douglas is the logistics base for fuel, food, and lodging. Expect quiet gallery forest, desert-canyon birding, and fewer people than at larger Arizona refuges — a simple day stop with no visitor services on site.