Empire Ranch, South Central, AZ

I love it when we have time to stop and take in the sights along our journey, instead of just heading from destination to destination.  It often leads to exploring things that we didn't even know existed.  On our way to Bisbee, AZ, we were able to do just that.  We took some side roads that we would otherwise have just passed by.  This particular side road lead us to the Empire Ranch, an interesting piece of Arizona history that has been preserved for curious wanderers like ourselves.  

Empire Ranch was once a working cattle ranch on the eastern slope of the Santa Rita mountains, dating back to 1870.  It has a rich history, which includes cattle, cowboys, Indians, prospectors, and eventually it's sale to a mining company for it's water rights.  It now resides on BLM land and is open to the public for self guided tours.  

Steve and I didn't realized that there are antelope in Arizona, but here is a beauty on the property of Empire Ranch.

The ranch was originally four rooms, but over the years was added on to many times, eventually ending up with 22 rooms of varying ages.  We stopped at the visitors center and picked up a brochure that showed us the layout of the ranch house and explained each room on the tour.  

This was the coolest breezeway with four attached rooms.  It allowed a cool breeze to blow through in the summer and kept a snow free walkway in the winter.

The walls of the ranch house are about a foot thick, made of adobe.

The most modern part of the house was built in the 1950’s.

The windows in the living room and dining room left in lots of light and had a warm southern exposure for the winter months.

A lot of people that visit this ranch come for bird watching, as there is a lot of open space, and great riparian areas.  We really enjoyed this tour, and would definitely recommend it if you are in the area.