Cajón del Agua is an amazing canyon Southeast of Santa Ana that flows out of the Sierra Cucurpe and other nearby hills. It is the Northwestern-most True Sinaloan thornscrub that I've seen in Sonora. Beyond that it is perrinial and harbors a very lush bottom of riparian trees including sycamore, cottonwood, several willow species, walnut and mulberry. Slopes above the canyon bottom have a collection of thornscrub species that including Bursera fageroides and laxiflora as well as Rock Fig and palms. Click here for a spreadsheet (Excel) of encountered and identified tree and shrub species. Equally amazing is the diversity of birds that include black hawks, painted buntings, sinaloan and happy wrens, fan-tailed warblers, rufous-capped warblers, and yellow-billed cuckoos. The waters contain unknown fish, frog and turtle species.

Apparent from these photos Cajón del Agua also has gorgeous scenery with it's colorful cliffs and columns of rock. Lichen adorns the cliffs giving even more color. This is one of my favorite places in Sonora.