🏞️ Cienega Valley (Arizona)

Cienega Valley is a valley located southeast of Tucson, Arizona, in the transition zone between the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. It is bounded by the Rincon Mountains to the north, the Whetstone Mountains to the east, the Mustang Mountains to the southeast, the Canelo Hills to the south, and the Santa Rita-Empire Mountains complex to the west. Much of the area is now part of the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, which preserves habitat for a variety of threatened plant and animal species in the valley and along Cienega Creek.