The San Rafael Valley is a high intermontane grass valley in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The valley is bounded to the west by the Patagonia Mountains, to the north and northeast by the Canelo Hills and to the east by the Huachuca Mountains in Cochise County. The valley forms the headwaters of the Santa Cruz River which flows south into Sonora, Mexico just east of the historic Lochiel townsite. The Santa Cruz De La Znaja Land Grant lies in the valley center just north of Lochiel.
The Nature Conservancy purchased the former land grant ranch in 1998 and Arizona established the San Rafael State Natural Area in the valley in 1999. The protected areas are not open to the public.[1]